Iraqi calm 'stunning' -- general

RAMADI, Iraq, March 11 (UPI) -- The U.S. commander charged with operations in western Iraq called the lull in violence "stunning" as he returned to Iraq for his third tour of duty.

Maj. Gen. John Kelly with the U.S. Marines said the level of violence in the Anbar cities of Fallujah and Ramadi was markedly down from the levels three years ago.

"It's stunning to me how low (violence levels) are," Kelly said. "When I left here three years ago, you could not go into the cities -- Fallujah, Ramadi, places like that -- without a rifle company of Marines, and it was a gunfight going in and a gunfight going out."

Kelly noted that the 40-mile trip from Ramadi to Fallujah was once a very dangerous mission, but said now the only gunfire you hear is during weekly wedding celebrations, the American Forces Press Service said.

The Anbar Awakening movement drove most of the al-Qaida elements out of the region, but Kelly noted the threat from the group looms large. "They're down, but they're not out," he said.

Kelly credited joint U.S.-Iraqi security patrols and the work of the Iraqi police forces with deterring violent attacks as al-Qaida shifts its operations to targeted suicide attacks against sheiks, civilian leaders and Awakening Council members.

He singled out the Iraqi police "because the police have really come on strong and given us an advantage out there."