"What is coming might be bigger attacks, and the government needs to
shoulder its responsibility and deal with the security inefficiencies,"
Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said on Aug. 22.
So far, Iraq detained 11 army and police commanders and fired
intelligence chief Mohammed Al Shahwani, all of whom were accused of
negligence in the mass-casualty suicide bombings. Opposition
parliamentarians said Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki ordered the
arrest in an effort to quell public criticism.
"According to our information, there has even been collaboration between
security officers and the murderers and killers," Zebari said.
Al Maliki has been blamed for ordering the removal of security walls
around Baghdad neighborhoods threatened by Al Qaida. Officials said the
Iraqi government has agreed to rebuild some of the blast walls, particularly
around ministries and other offices.
U.S. military commanders have urged Iraq to intensify operations against
Al Qaida. Officials said the U.S. military as well as the Defense Department
have focused on Al Maliki, commander in chief of the armed forces.
"There is a clear need to keep the pressure on the extremists, and that
has to be continued through the kind of targeted operations that we carried
out," U.S. Central Commander chief Gen. David Petraeus said. "The
operational tempo in these targeted operations has been up and down and
there is a desire on the part of all to increase the pressure on the
extremist elements."
At a news conference in London, Petraeus said the biggest insurgency
threat was detected in Baghdad and northern Iraq. He warned that Al Qaida,
despite reduced capability, demonstrated its success in sustaining the
offensive.
"There clearly are concerns among the Iraqis about the challenges in
northern Iraq and in Baghdad," Petraeus said.
