U.S. intelligence concluded early this year that al Qaeda has carved a new safe haven since the overthrow of its Taliban hosts after the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington. The news comes as officials tout progress in Iraq, saying the country is experiencing its most significant dip in violence since the first year of the invasion. On Sunday, Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno, the second-ranking U.S. general in Iraq, told The Associated Press that fewer weapons and fighters entered Iraq from Iran and Syria over the past month. And Iraq's Interior Ministry said civilian deaths caused by war-related violence in Iraq dropped for a third straight month in November. But in Afghanistan, U.S. commanders have seen an increase in attacks by the Taliban, the fundamentalist Islamic militia that ruled most of Afghanistan
