Meanwhile, the Pentagon has released its quarterly report on the progress of the Iraq occupation. In surveys of Iraqis, 73 percent reported the security situation in their neighborhoods as calm — a 12 percent increase over November. But in a move highlighting Iraq’s ethnic divide, just 37 percent say they feel comfortable traveling outside their own neighborhoods. The decreased violence in Iraq has been attributed at least partly to widespread ethnic cleansing that has left less people to kill. While more than 80 percent of Iraqis expressed confidence in Iraqi troops to protect their security, just 24 percent say they have confidence in the US-led occupation.