thedrifter
08-22-03, 06:13 AM
August 21, 2003
Abizaid: Terrorists now entrenched in Baghdad
By Robert Burns
Associated Press
Terrorism is now the biggest threat to U.S.-led efforts to stabilize Iraq, but adding more American troops to the fight is not the answer, the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq said Thursday.
Gen. John Abizaid, chief of U.S. Central Command, told a Pentagon news conference that elements of a small terrorist organization called Ansar al-Islam had migrated south into the Baghdad area and that foreign extremists are infiltrating Iraq from Syria to further destabilize it.
Abizaid said terrorists are now firmly established in the Iraqi capital and pose a growing danger.
“Clearly, it is emerging as the number one security threat,” he said. “And we are applying a lot of time, energy and resources to identify it, understand it and deal with it.”
In a more positive development, U.S. officials announced the capture of Ali Hassan al-Majid, one of Saddam Hussein’s most brutal henchmen who earned the nickname “Chemical Ali” for ordering poisonous gas attacks against Iraqi Kurds in 1988. He was No. 5 on the U.S. list of most-wanted Iraqis, although it was unclear what role he may have been playing in postwar Iraq.
Abizaid said al-Majid had been “influencing people in and around him,” but he declined to elaborate.
White House spokesman Scott McClellan offered no details on the capture of al-Majid.
“It’s further reassurance to the Iraqi people that we continue to hunt down those remnants of the former regime and make sure they are brought to justice,” McClellan said aboard Air Force One while traveling to Oregon with President Bush.
Thus far 42 of the 55 most-wanted Iraqis have been captured or killed, by the Pentagon’s count.
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, who appeared with Abizaid, characterized the bombing Tuesday of the United Nation’s Iraqi headquarters in Baghdad, which killed at least 23 people and wounded more than 100, as a terrorist act not unlike those that occur periodically worldwide.
“Terrorist activity has been going on in our world for a long time,” Rumsfeld said. “It is going on today. There is hardly a month that goes by where there’s not some relatively significant terrorist act that occurs somewhere.”
Asked whether he saw links or signs of cooperation between remnants of Saddam’s former Baath Party — believed to be behind much of the anti-American violence in Iraq — and terrorist groups entering Iraq, Abizaid said they are organized in similar ways but are not allies.
“I believe that there are some indications of cooperation in specific areas,” he added. “Of course, ideologically they are not at all compatible. But on the other hand, you sometimes cooperate against what you consider a common enemy.”
Abizaid said the terrorist threat is being fueled by extremists operating in a triangular stretch of territory between the cities of Baghdad, Ramadi and Tikrit, which is Saddam’s tribal home.
“They are clearly a problem for us because of the sophistication of their attacks and because of what I would call their tactics to go after Iraqis,” he said. “Clearly, they’re going after Iraqis that are cooperating with us. They’re going after soft targets of the international community. They’re still seeking to inflict casualties upon the United States.”
Abizaid said it was not clear that the foreign fighters are being sponsored by Syria or other nations.
“I don’t believe that I would say that they are state-supported, but they are supported by misguided people who think that sending money to them is OK,” he said.
Rumsfeld quickly added: “They clearly are not being stopped by the countries from which they’re coming.”
Both Rumsfeld and Abizaid sought to counter the impression that the United States is standing almost alone against a growing tide of violent resistance to its occupation of Iraq. Abizaid noted that about 20,000 British and other foreign forces are part of the U.S.-led coalition. And he said steady progress is being made in putting more Iraqis in security roles.
“It’s not the lone American rifleman out there defending Iraq,” Abizaid said. “We’re working in conjunction with Iraqis to make the place a better place to live. That having been said, there’s a hell of a lot more work that has to be done to secure Iraq.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright 2003 The Associated Press.
Sempers,
Roger
:marine:
Abizaid: Terrorists now entrenched in Baghdad
By Robert Burns
Associated Press
Terrorism is now the biggest threat to U.S.-led efforts to stabilize Iraq, but adding more American troops to the fight is not the answer, the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq said Thursday.
Gen. John Abizaid, chief of U.S. Central Command, told a Pentagon news conference that elements of a small terrorist organization called Ansar al-Islam had migrated south into the Baghdad area and that foreign extremists are infiltrating Iraq from Syria to further destabilize it.
Abizaid said terrorists are now firmly established in the Iraqi capital and pose a growing danger.
“Clearly, it is emerging as the number one security threat,” he said. “And we are applying a lot of time, energy and resources to identify it, understand it and deal with it.”
In a more positive development, U.S. officials announced the capture of Ali Hassan al-Majid, one of Saddam Hussein’s most brutal henchmen who earned the nickname “Chemical Ali” for ordering poisonous gas attacks against Iraqi Kurds in 1988. He was No. 5 on the U.S. list of most-wanted Iraqis, although it was unclear what role he may have been playing in postwar Iraq.
Abizaid said al-Majid had been “influencing people in and around him,” but he declined to elaborate.
White House spokesman Scott McClellan offered no details on the capture of al-Majid.
“It’s further reassurance to the Iraqi people that we continue to hunt down those remnants of the former regime and make sure they are brought to justice,” McClellan said aboard Air Force One while traveling to Oregon with President Bush.
Thus far 42 of the 55 most-wanted Iraqis have been captured or killed, by the Pentagon’s count.
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, who appeared with Abizaid, characterized the bombing Tuesday of the United Nation’s Iraqi headquarters in Baghdad, which killed at least 23 people and wounded more than 100, as a terrorist act not unlike those that occur periodically worldwide.
“Terrorist activity has been going on in our world for a long time,” Rumsfeld said. “It is going on today. There is hardly a month that goes by where there’s not some relatively significant terrorist act that occurs somewhere.”
Asked whether he saw links or signs of cooperation between remnants of Saddam’s former Baath Party — believed to be behind much of the anti-American violence in Iraq — and terrorist groups entering Iraq, Abizaid said they are organized in similar ways but are not allies.
“I believe that there are some indications of cooperation in specific areas,” he added. “Of course, ideologically they are not at all compatible. But on the other hand, you sometimes cooperate against what you consider a common enemy.”
Abizaid said the terrorist threat is being fueled by extremists operating in a triangular stretch of territory between the cities of Baghdad, Ramadi and Tikrit, which is Saddam’s tribal home.
“They are clearly a problem for us because of the sophistication of their attacks and because of what I would call their tactics to go after Iraqis,” he said. “Clearly, they’re going after Iraqis that are cooperating with us. They’re going after soft targets of the international community. They’re still seeking to inflict casualties upon the United States.”
Abizaid said it was not clear that the foreign fighters are being sponsored by Syria or other nations.
“I don’t believe that I would say that they are state-supported, but they are supported by misguided people who think that sending money to them is OK,” he said.
Rumsfeld quickly added: “They clearly are not being stopped by the countries from which they’re coming.”
Both Rumsfeld and Abizaid sought to counter the impression that the United States is standing almost alone against a growing tide of violent resistance to its occupation of Iraq. Abizaid noted that about 20,000 British and other foreign forces are part of the U.S.-led coalition. And he said steady progress is being made in putting more Iraqis in security roles.
“It’s not the lone American rifleman out there defending Iraq,” Abizaid said. “We’re working in conjunction with Iraqis to make the place a better place to live. That having been said, there’s a hell of a lot more work that has to be done to secure Iraq.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright 2003 The Associated Press.
Sempers,
Roger
:marine: