General Petraeus brought out his data today, saying that two U.S. intelligence agencies back his methodology. He did not explain — yet — what that methodology is, but said that it has remained consistent over at least a year, which would predate Petraeus’ arrival in Iraq.
Petraeus’ information appears to measure attacks week by week. He didn’t give comparisons to overall attacks in 2006, but opted instead to measure from discrete points in 2006: December for measures of overall violence; June 2006 for IED violence; October 2006 for attacks in Anbar province.
We’ll have Petraeus’ slides for you to see shortly.
Update: You can see the slides here.
Update: You can read Petraeus’ opening remarks here.
