U.S. commanders worry about Iraqi capacity as Al Qaida surge contines
Monday, August 24, 2009 E-Mail this story Free Headline Alerts
BAGHDAD Ñ The U.S. military has become concerned over the inability of Iraqi security forces to stop the Al Qaida offensive.
Officials said senior American commanders have relayed their concern that the Iraq Army and security forces, which number more than 700,000, were either unable or unmotivated to quell the Al Qaida insurgency. They said Al Qaida has penetrated Iraqi security forces in the provinces of Anbar, Baghdad, Diyala and Nineveh and insurgents were conducting mass-casualty strikes not seen in Iraq since 2007.
"I think there are going to be some bad days ahead," U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Frank Helmick, commander of the U.S. military training effort in Iraq, said. "I don't know if, in fact, how many bad days there will be."
On Aug. 19, at least 101 people were killed and more than 500 injured in a series of car bombings. The bombings, said to be linked to Al Qaida cooperation to Iraqi security officers, targeted the Finance Ministry and the Foreign Ministry as well as Baghdad's Green Zone, location of most foreign embassies.
"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.