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thedrifter
03-05-06, 06:20 PM
Iraq Isn't on the Verge of Civil War, U.S. General Pace Says

March 5 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Peter Pace said Iraq isn't on the brink of civil war and that there isn't any deadline for withdrawing American and coalition troops from the country.

While acknowledging that Iraq still isn't stabilized, Pace said on NBC's ``Meet the Press'' program, ``I do not believe that they're on the verge of civil war.''

The Marines Corps general also said on ``Fox News Sunday'' that reports in two U.K. newspapers that the U.S. and Britain plan to pull out of Iraq by the first half of next year are ``not true.'' The Sunday Telegraph reported today that U.K officials pushed the plan to withdrawal the 138,000 American and British troops from Iraq out of concern that the presence of foreign troops is preventing peace in the region, citing an unidentified defense official.

``We're going to do exactly what we said we're going to do, which is make the assessments of situations on the ground,'' Pace said.

U.S. and Iraqi leaders have voiced concerns about the possibility of civil war after a wave of sectarian violence in Iraq sparked by the Feb. 22 bombing of a Shiite Muslim shrine in Samarra. Pace said the response by Iraqi religious leaders, who have condemned the attacks, shows that the nation's fledgling government ``responds pretty well'' and has ``great promise for the future.''

`Fighting for Supremacy'

U.S. Representative John Murtha, a Pennsylvania Democrat who has called for the U.S. to immediately begin a withdrawal from Iraq, challenged Pace's assessment and said American troops are caught in the fighting between Shiite and Sunni Muslims in Iraq.

``There's two participants fighting for survival and fighting for supremacy inside that country,'' Murtha said today on CBS's ``Face the Nation.'' ``I think we're not making progress. We're caught in a civil war.''

Adnan Pachachi, former Iraqi foreign minister and current member of parliament, disagreed, saying, ``There is a lot of tension and differences, but no civil war.''

``The tensions are not between the Shiite population and the Sunni population,'' Pachachi said on CNN's ``Late Edition'' program. ``It's really the militias, the armed militias, and certain fanatic groups that are really engaged in most of the acts of violence.''

Criminal Investigation

Pace also said the military has a responsibility to review the details surrounding the death of former National Football League player Pat Tillman, who was killed by friendly fire while serving with the U.S. Army in Afghanistan in 2004. The inspector generals in the case decided to open a criminal investigation to review whether the people who shot him had reason to be firing their weapons at the time, he said.

``It's unfortunate that it has to be looked at again, but I'm satisfied that it is being looked at again, because if one of the reviewing officials decided that there was something that had to be looked at, we should do that,'' Pace said on ``Fox News Sunday.''


To contact the reporter on this story:
Catherine Larkin in Washington at clarkin4@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: March 5, 2006 12:17 EST

Ellie

greensideout
03-05-06, 10:12 PM
No Civil war? The "Tribes" have been fighting throughout history. The strong boot of Sadam held them at bay as has been the only way to curb the fighting as shown by history. We have opened the gates to their freedom and they choose to continue the battle againest each other and us. The Civil War there has never ended in their minds and it has just found new breath.