Army to stay in cities

The Iraqi army was supposed to pull out of the nation's cities by the end of this year but is delaying the pullback over security concerns, the Iraqi military spokesman said, Qassim Abdul-Zahra reports for The Associated Press.

The delay is an acknowledgment that even after four years of declining violence, Iraq's police force is not capable of maintaining security on its own. The other worry is that violence will increase when American troops complete their own withdrawal from the country at year's end.