Set opacity of background image without affecting child elements

Question

Is it possible to set the opacity of a background image without affecting the opacity of child elements?

Example

All links in the footer need a custom bull

Answer 1

The "filter" property, needs an integer for percentage of opacity instead of double, in order to work for IE7/8.

filter: progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.Alpha(opacity=50);

P.S.: I post this as an answer, since SO, needs at least 6 changed characters for an edit.