CHARACTERIZING THE BAGHDAD THREAT

Col. Kurt Fuller, the commander of the 82nd Airborne Division's 2nd Brigade, says Iraqi insurgents no longer pose a great threat in southern Baghdad.

"We have really put the smack-down on them," said Fuller, whose unit is headed home this week after a year in Iraq.

He spoke Tuesday in Baghdad about the efforts of his soldiers and the improvements they have made in Iraq.

Fuller, who took command of the brigade in July, saw some of the bloodiest months in Baghdad that followed the end of the war in May. In the last couple months the paratroopers have made great strides in destroying cells of former regime loyalists, he said.

The main threats now in Baghdad come from Sunni religious extremists and foreign terrorists.

Fuller blamed a recent string of car bombs on the terrorists.

"In the long term, this is what we are going to be dealing with," he said.