June 20, 2004
Iraqi Leader Announces Plans to Reorganize Security Forces
By DEXTER FILKINS
and SOMINI SENGUPTA
AGHDAD, June 20 — Iraq's prime minister announced today a dramatic expansion of the Iraqi army and said that "substantial elements" of the force would be directed to fighting internal threats instead of national defense.
The prime minister, Ayad Allawi, made his remarks in his first press briefing since he assumed his post earlier this month. The dedication of a portion of the army to be an internally directed force illustrated the type of grim choices Mr. Allawi and his cabinet feel they have to make in the early days of his rule.
As the June 30 handover of sovereignty approaches, insurgents have stepped up attacks on Iraqi interim government officials and security forces in an effort to undermine their credibility.
The decision to use the army against the insurgency represents a reversal of American policy, which had designed the force to be directed against foreign threats and, most important, to be small. American policymakers had wanted to ensure that the Iraqi army, which has played a significant role in shaping the country's political history, could be kept out of domestic politics.
Mr. Allawi acknowledged that concern but said the extraordinary circumstances presented by the insurgency demanded a special response. He said that for the "foreseeable future," the army would be fighting insurgents, rather than guarding the borders.
"Our army's priority will continue to be national defense," he said. "However, in these difficult times, substantial elements of the army will have to assist in the struggle against internal threats against national security."
The interior minister's house in Samarra was attacked this morning and four bodyguards killed. On Thursday, a car bomb ripped through an army recruitment center in Baghdad, killing at least 41 people. Dozens of local officials and many senior members of the government in Baghdad have been assassinated.
In recent days, American officials have taken pains to point out that they have already begun to roll down their involvement in the running of this country.
The new Iraqi army, which has about 3,000 soldiers, would take control of more than 37,500 officers who now make up the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps as part of a newly created national guard.
Together with the new Iraqi anti-terrorism force now being trained here, the armed forces available to combat insurgents in the country could total more than 60,000 soldiers.
The reconstitution of the army amounts to a reversal of the American decision, made last spring, to dissolve the Iraqi army. That decision has been roundly criticized, by Mr. Allawi and others, as having fueled the guerrilla insurgency by rendering unemployed thousands of young men with military training.
In response to that criticism, American officials announced last month that they would begin rehiring higher level army officers who had been banned from serving in the armed forces.
"Disbanding the Iraqi army was a big mistake," Mr. Allawi said. "We are fixing the mistakes of the Americans, aren't we?"
Mr. Allawi, dressed in a western-style suit, offered a vigorous vision of combating the guerrilla insurgency, which he said was "systematically destroying the country."
"The enemy we are fighting is truly evil," Mr. Allawi said. "They have nothing to offer the Iraqi people except death and destruction."
Mr. Allawi said the United States had agreed "in principle" to transfer custody of Iraqis suspected of involvement in the insurgency and for criminals acts to the Iraqi government after June 30.
He appealed to foreign countries to help protect the United Nations staff who would be working in the country to prepare for nationwide elections later this year or early next.
nytimes.com |
