WASHINGTON — U.S. President George Bush has demanded another plan to
improve security in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad.
Officials said the plan drafted by the new government of Iraqi Prime
Minister Nouri Al Maliki has failed to eliminate Al Qaida and Sunni
insurgency cells in Baghdad. They said the plan has foundered on the
inability of the Iraqi security forces to respond quickly to insurgency
threats.
"It has not achieved its objectives," said White House spokesman Tony
Snow.
Bush has ordered a new Iraqi security plan on the eve of his meeting
with Al Maliki at the White House. Tuesday would mark the second meeting
between the two men since June 13.
Officials said Bush has approved a plan to deploy several thousand
additional U.S. troops in Baghdad in an effort to stabilize the city. They
said the key goal was to reduce Sunni-Shi'ite violence, which has included
militias and security forces.
"One of the first challenges, obviously, is to go ahead and find an
effective way to secure Baghdad," Snow told a briefing on Monday.
The United Nations has reported that 5,818 civilians were killed and at
least 5,762 were injured during May and June 2006. The Iraqi government has
confirmed the figures.
At this point, officials said, the Bush administration intend to avoid
an increase in the overall U.S. military presence of 127,000 troops in Iraq.
They said U.S. military commander in Iraq, Gen. George Casey, has been
drafting plans to reduce American forces in areas of Iraq deemed stable.
"He will make adjustments to where military forces are within the
country based on his best military judgment on where they can best be used,"
Defense Department spokesman Bryan Whitman said.
The U.S. military has deployed 55,000 troops in the Baghdad area, an
increase of 40 percent in 2006. Many of the soldiers were used in Operation
Together Forward, the joint effort against Al Qaida launched after the
assassination of network chief Abu Mussib Al Zarqawi on June 7.
"There is a very serious effort to make sure that it is not just
weighted with additional U.S. capability, but also additional Iraqi
capability," U.S. Central Command chief Gen. John Abizaid said. "Clearly, it
will require that we move whatever combat power that the commanders on the
ground there think is appropriate, whether Iraqi or American. And I think it
will be a combination of both."
At a briefing on Monday, Iraqi Deputy Chief of Staff Gen. Nasier Abadi
said between 40 and 50 suspected insurgents per day were being arrested.
Abadi told a briefing at the American Enterprise Institute that U.S. and
Iraqi forces conduct 1,200 patrols daily in Baghdad.
Abadi said the insurgency has withstood coalition efforts. He cited the
failure of Iraqi troops to cover all areas of the country as well as the
command and control capability of insurgents.
"We have made tremendous progress and at the same time made grave
mistakes," Abadi said.
