'Time running out' to secure Iraq
news.bbc.co.uk
US troops are under pressure in Iraq, as are their leaders at home
A high-level advisory team sent to Iraq by the United States Defence Department says the window of opportunity to establish law and order is rapidly closing.
It says urgent action is needed in the next three months to achieve progress in providing security, basic services, and political and economic opportunity for the Iraqi people.
Iraq has been beset by problems with security and basic services since the end of the conflict and the team says that, without rapid change, there is a growing potential for real chaos.
The BBC's Fergal Parkinson, in Washington, says that with a mounting death toll among soldiers and increasing lawlessness in Iraq, the Bush administration is under huge pressure.
We owe it to our people in the field, and to Iraqis, to provide everything necessary to get this right. US credibility and national interest depend upon it
Iraq report
UK Prime Minister Tony Blair and US President George W Bush have meanwhile again defended the war against Iraq after Mr Blair made a speech to a joint session of Congress on Thursday.
President Bush vowed to "finish the task" of putting war-torn Iraq on course for democracy.
"We are being tested in Iraq," said the president. "Our enemies are looking for signs of hesitation. They are looking for weakness. They will find none."
Mr Blair said that, even if they had been wrong about weapons of mass destruction, history would forgive the removal of Saddam Hussein.
'Turbo boost- reconstruction'
The Pentagon report - assessing post-war reconstruction efforts in Iraq - was issued as US Deputy Secretary of Defence Paul Wolfowitz began an extensive five-day tour of the country.
Mr Wolfowitz said his purpose was to thank US troops and to see for himself what it was, in his words, "for the Iraqi people to be liberated".
If we are wrong, we will have destroyed a threat that, at its least, is responsible for inhuman carnage and suffering
Tony Blair
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The Pentagon team was led by John Hamre, financial controller of the defence department during the Clinton era, and current head of the respected Center for Strategic and International Studies.
His five-strong team of independent experts spent nearly two weeks in Iraq at the invitation of US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, and the head of the US-led civilian administration in Baghdad, Paul Bremer.
Dr Hamre and his colleagues urge the Bush administration to immediately "turbo-charge" reconstruction efforts by swiftly injecting funding and personnel and securing the involvement of other countries and the United Nations.
US troops are becoming increasingly demoralised by attacks
"The next three months are crucial to turning around the security situation, which is volatile in key parts of the country," the report says, adding that the US must also be ready "to stay the course in Iraq for several years".
The team says more Iraqis should be employed in the rebuilding - and communication with Iraqis had to be improved. It says the new Iraqi Governing Council has a vital role.
"We owe it to our people in the field, and to Iraqis, to provide everything necessary to get this right. US credibility and national interest depend upon it," the report says.
Mounting pressure
A Pentagon spokesman told the BBC that the team had briefed officials, but they had yet to decide how their recommendations could best be put into practice.
Excerpts from 'Saddam message'
US faces up to guerrilla war
The BBC's Jonny Dymond, in Baghdad, says that on average there are 13 attacks on coalition forces every day.
There were no reported attacks on coalition forces on Thursday - the 35th anniversary of the seizure of power by the former Iraqi leader's Baath Party - but a new tape recording purporting to be Saddam Hussein was broadcast on Arabic television.
The speaker called for further attacks on coalition forces in the country and condemned Iraqis who co-operate with the occupying powers.
Our correspondent in Baghdad says those who know Saddam Hussein's speech are confident that the voice is that of the former Iraqi leader. |
