abate = "to increase"

[Jonathan Lighter]

Tell me I'm wrong about this:

  2007 _Yahoo/ AP News_ (Mar. 18) [ http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070318/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq ]: BAGHDAD - Sunni insurgents, resilient despite the five-week security crackdown in the capital, killed at least six more U.S. troops over the weekend. A Sunni car bomber hit a largely Shiite district in the capital Sunday, killing at least eight people....Across Iraq, at least 20 people died Sunday, a sign that violence continued to abate as U.S. and Iraqi forces press ahead with what many view as a last-chance bid to quell the sectarian violence in Baghdad and central regions of the country.

  JL



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