General warns of Iraqi 'Tet'

[thedrifter]

General warns of Iraqi 'Tet'

BY KATHLEEN LUCADAMO
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Sunday, July 8th 2007, 4:00 AM

Sunni extremists may carry out high-profile attacks ahead of a September report to Congress on progress in Iraq, the top U.S. commander warned yesterday - recalling the Tet offensive that torpedoed support for the Vietnam War.

"We expect they will try this - pull off a variety of sensational attacks and grab the headlines to create a 'mini-Tet,'" Gen. David Petraeus told The Associated Press.

Petraeus' prediction came as a suicide bomber killed more than 100 people by detonating a truck bomb in the center of an Iraq market. The killings pushed the death toll in the last three days to more than 140 people - including eight U.S. soldiers.

The 1968 Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Tet offensive failed to achieve most of its tactical goals, but it shattered political support for the Vietnam War among the U.S. public.

Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker are scheduled to present a report to Congress by Sept. 15 on the situation in Iraq. Several Republicans say if progress is not made by then, they may call for a new strategy. Petraeus would not say what the report will say. But other U.S. generals have warned against drawing down American troops too rapidly before Iraqi security forces can cope.

Local police said yesterday a suicide bomber smashed a truck into a market close to Tuz Khurmatu, north of Baghdad, killing 105 and leaving more than 250 wounded. Another six people, including five Iraqi soldiers, were killed when a suicide car bomber drove into a military checkpoint in east Baghdad.

On Friday, 22 people returning from a funeral were killed when a suicide bomber drove his car into a group of Shiite Kurds near Iraq's border with Iran.

U.S. military officials reported that six soldiers had been killed by roadside bombs since Thursday. Two Marines also were killed in combat in Anbar Province on Thursday, officials said.

The last three months have proven to be the deadliest April-June period since the U.S.-led invasion began in 2003.

klucadamo@nydailynews.com

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Petraeus expects big strikes before Sept.
By Robert H. Reid - The Associated Press
Posted : Saturday Jul 7, 2007 13:15:34 EDT

BAQUBAH, Iraq — Sunni extremists are likely to try a series of high-profile attacks to grab the headlines ahead of a watershed report to Congress in September on political and military progress in Iraq, the top U.S. commander said Saturday.

“We expect they will try this — pull off a variety of sensational attacks and grab the headlines to create a ‘mini-Tet,’ ” Gen. David Petraeus said in an interview with The Associated Press.

He was referring to the 1968 Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Tet offensive that undermined public support for the Vietnam War in the United States. The offensive failed to achieve most of its tactical goal, but it shattered political support for the Vietnam War among the U.S. public.

Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker are to present a report to Congress by Sept. 15 on the situation in Iraq. Several Republicans say if progress is not made by then, they may call for a new strategy in Iraq.

The general would not say what he and Crocker plan to tell Congress in the report.

But he added that the two top American officials in Iraq “have a responsibility to produce out assessment of the implications” of “different options.”

He would not elaborate, but other U.S. generals have warned in recent weeks against drawing down American troops too rapidly before Iraqi security forces can cope.

Petraeus would not say what measures he would take to prevent a spate of spectacular attacks. He spoke at a U.S. base, Camp Warhorse, on the edge of Baqubah, which had been the self-declared capital of the al-Qaida front group, the Islamic State of Iraq.

On Saturday, a suicide truck bomber hit an outdoor market, killing and wounding dozens, in the Shiite town of Armili, 60 miles from Baqubah. The night before, a suicide bomber hit a funeral in a Kurdish Shiite village northeast of Baqubah, killing 22.

The attacks suggested al-Qaida militants and other Sunni insurgents have moved further north, to avoid U.S. troops and strike where security is weaker.

U.S. troops have gone on the offensive in Baqubah, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad and have gained control of the western half of the city.

U.S. forces have also launched an offensive in areas south of Baghdad, where al-Qaida and other Sunni insurgents are believed to rig car bombs that strike in the capital.

If U.S. troops can drive the extremists away from strategic areas around Baghdad, they hope to minimize attacks in the capital that draw international attention.

Petraeus said there had been progress in restoring stability in some areas of the country, notably Anbar where Sunni sheiks have turned against al-Qaida. Last weekend, U.S. troops killed 35 insurgents in what commanders believe was an attempt reinfiltrate Ramadi, the Anbar provincial capital, where extremist attacks have dropped sharply.

At the national government, however, reconciliation efforts among Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish politicians have faltered because of deep differences on power-sharing. Some of the issues, including sharing oil wealth and regional powers, are at the core of the Iraq conflict.

Last year’s wave of sectarian killings, which escalated after the February 2006 bombing of a Shiite mosque in Samarra “really tore the fabric” of Iraqi society, Petraeus said.

“At the national level, progress to foster true reconciliation is still a work in progress,” Petraeus said. “In some respects we should recognize that these issues are fundamental, that they are doing it in an environment shaped by very bad sectarian violence” last year.

Ellie