The two top American generals in Iraq expressed disappointment yesterday in the refusal of many U.S.-trained Iraqi security forces to fight insurgents in last week’s violence, saying it showed flaws in the way the coalition assembled the police.
Army Gen. John Abizaid, chief of U.S. Central Command, said he was especially unhappy with the security forces’ performance in southern Iraq, where firebrand cleric Muqtada al-Sadr unleashed his private militia to attack coalition personnel. In many cases, police abandoned government buildings rather than defend them. A few joined Sheik al-Sadr’s Mahdi’s Army of black-clad militia.
“A number of units, both in the police force and also in the [Iraqi Civil Defense Corps] did not stand up to the intimidators of the forces of Sadr’s militia and that was a great disappointment to us,” Gen. Abizaid said at a joint press conference with Army Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, his top commander in Iraq.
The two spoke after one of the deadliest weeks for American troops since Saddam Hussein’s statue fell one year ago. A weeklong, limited uprising by Sunni Iraqis in Fallujah and Shi’ites in the south killed more than 40 U.S. troops and cast doubt on the timetable for bringing democracy to post-Saddam Iraq by June 30.
Gens. Abizaid and Sanchez did not offer a clear strategy for escaping from the escalating violence. They are awaiting word on whether Iraqi-to-Iraqi talks bring an end to fighting between U.S. Marines and Sunni insurgents in Fallujah. To the south, the end of a Shi’ite religious holiday and the exodus of thousands of pilgrims could bring a decision on whether to confront Sheik al-Sadr.
In wide-ranging remarks in an audio feed to the Pentagon press corps from Baghdad, Gens. Abizaid and Sanchez also said:
• “There are some Iranian activities going on that are unhelpful” in southern Iraq. The coalition has beefed up patrols on the Iranian border to stop the influx of foreign fighters. Military sources have said Iran is funneling money to Sheik al-Sadr, which he has used to expand his power by paying his private army, publishing a newspaper and offering social services.
• Gen. Abizaid has asked Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld for at least two additional combat brigades, or about 12,000 troops. He declined to say whether the extra troops would come from the 1st Armored Division, which is due to leave next month, or from units outside his theater.
The Washington Times reported on Saturday that the four-star general had decided he needed more forces than the level planned for this stage of the occupation. About 135,000 American troops are in Iraq, but that number is scheduled to drop to 110,000 once troop rotation ends.
• Al Jazeera, the Arab-language satellite TV channel, is broadcasting falsehoods that the United States is deliberately killing Iraqi civilians.
“We are being very deliberate and precise in the application of that combat power to prevent any wounding or injuring of noncombatants,” Gen. Sanchez said.
On training Iraqis, Gen. Abizaid’s frank acknowledgment means that the Pentagon’s much-ballyhooed program to field more than 200,000 officers and soldiers has failed on many fronts and must be revamped.
Gen. Abizaid said he is recruiting more senior members of Saddam’s old military to run the Interior Ministry and to establish a functional chain of command that apparently was missing when Mahdi’s Army attacked.
“The truth of the matter is that until we get well-informed Iraqi chains of command … it’s going to be tough to get them to perform at the level we want,” said Gen. Abizaid, adding that some pro-U.S. Iraqis did fight insurgents in Fallujah.
Gen. Sanchez added, “Clearly, there’s things that we have to do better with the police. … Some of it has to do with vetting. Some of it has to do with training. But most of it has to do with time and confidence, which is what we’re going to have to work on the most.”
Ongoing negotiations are reported between moderate Shi’ites and Sheik al-Sadr, who is believed to be holed up in the holy city of Najaf.
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