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Politics : Moderate Forum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Dale Baker who wrote (3882)	10/3/2003 9:13:52 AM
From: epicure	Respond to of 20773

:-)

To: Dale Baker who wrote (3882)	10/3/2003 9:16:40 AM
From: epicure	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 20773

U.S. General Says Iraqi Rebels Getting Stronger By Tyler Marshall, Times Staff Writer BAGHDAD — In a week that has already seen five more U.S. combat deaths and the wounding of 41 soldiers, the commander of military forces in Iraq indicated Thursday that resistance to the occupying troops was strengthening and warned Americans to brace for more casualties. With 313 American soldiers dead in the conflict so far, more than half since President Bush declared major combat over May 1, Army Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez told reporters at a weekly news briefing here, "This is still wartime." "There is still some intense fighting to be done, especially out in the west," he said. "We should not be surprised if one of these mornings we wake up and ... there has been a major firefight with some casualties or a significant terrorist attack that kills significant numbers of people." Sanchez said the U.S.-led forces are engaging resistance groups 15 to 20 times a day, on average, with as many as 25 incidents on some days. Military spokesmen have cited lower figures in the past. The general added that the resistance was showing signs of improved organization. Though most attacks against U.S. forces are being carried out by small, locally based groups apparently acting on their own, there are indications that the resistance is beginning to operate under a broader, more regional control, Sanchez said. A string of incidents Thursday, including gunfire and a land mine explosion in and near the troubled city of Fallouja, about 35 miles west of Baghdad, served as a reminder that resistance remained strong. A spokesman at the U.S. military command headquarters in Baghdad said a vehicle in a convoy traveling west of Fallouja hit the mine. There were no American casualties, the spokesman said. Hours earlier, U.S. forces in Fallouja exchanged small-arms fire with an Iraqi gunman outside the mayor's office, but the same spokesman said he had no reports of casualties, although Reuters and Associated Press reported that one Iraqi was killed and four others wounded. Three uniformed Americans were killed in attacks Wednesday. Sanchez stressed that U.S. forces were improving their ability to confront the resistance, a statement echoed Thursday in Washington by Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who defended American progress in Iraq. "While there is no question we have faced some challenges and we've got some ahead of us, we have really achieved numerous successes and expect the situation to continue to improve," Myers told reporters at a Pentagon news conference. "We're in this for the long haul and ... we'll get the job done." U.N. Wants a Lead Role At the United Nations, Secretary-General Kofi Annan told a closed-door gathering of Security Council members that the world body must be given a leading role in shaping Iraq's political transition or it would not be involved in the nation at all, according to several diplomats and U.N. officials who attended the meeting. Annan has been seeking a major role for the U.N. in helping Iraq draft a constitution and hold elections. His ultimatum could be another setback to U.S. efforts at the world body to obtain international help in stabilizing the country. Except for a soldier killed on patrol in Baghdad, the encounters between U.S. forces and resistance fighters Wednesday and Thursday occurred in a part of Iraq along the Euphrates River north and west of the capital known as the Sunni Triangle, for the high concentration of Sunni Muslims living there. Sunnis have dominated the country politically for generations, even though Shiite Muslims make up nearly two-thirds of the population. Deposed leader Saddam Hussein and many of his most loyal followers are believed to form the core of the resistance to the occupation. On Thursday, Sanchez noted that more foreign fighters and terrorists had become involved in the attacks against Americans since organized resistance first became a major concern during the second half of May. In remarks he made recently at the Brookings Institution in Washington, Iraq's interim foreign minister, Hoshyar Zebari, said Islamic extremist groups Ansar al Islam, Al Qaeda and Takfir wal Hijra were actively opposing the occupation from inside Iraq. Sanchez described what he termed "a base of foreign fighters that continues to flow in on ratlines from Syria and northern Iran." Although the war in Iraq was justified by the Bush administration in part as an important step in its declared war against international terrorism, critics say that the continued presence of foreign fighters in the country is evidence that the conflict has been a setback to the White House effort. Administration officials have argued that the foreign militants were drawn to fight U.S. forces in Iraq for fear of losing a base from which to conduct terrorism. Citing the improved organization of the resistance, Sanchez said: "The enemy has evolved.... He's a little bit more lethal, a little more complex, a little bit more sophisticated and, in some cases, a little bit more tenacious." He noted that in a growing number of attacks, resistance fighters have used homemade bombs cobbled together from some of the more than 600,000 tons of Iraqi arms and munitions stored throughout the country. Sanchez said it was impossible to guard such a large amount of weaponry. "We find new dumps every day," he said. latimes.com

To: Dale Baker who wrote (3882)	10/3/2003 9:22:58 AM
From: epicure	Respond to of 20773

More from the LA times: A Critical Annan Urges 'Radical Change' in U.N.'s Iraq Role Times Headlines By Maggie Farley, Times Staff Writer UNITED NATIONS — In an unusually critical response to a new U.S. draft resolution on Iraq, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan issued an ultimatum Thursday: Either give the United Nations a leading role in the nation's political transition or the world body won't be involved in Iraq at all. Steeled by two attacks on the U.N.'s Baghdad headquarters in a month, Annan said that a new resolution must provide "a radical change" that could safeguard the U.N.'s staff and the mission's independence from the U.S.-led occupation, said diplomats and U.N. officials who attended the session. And he said that the changes offered by the Bush administration do neither. "Obviously, it's not going in the direction I had recommended," he told reporters earlier Thursday. In a closed-door luncheon with the Security Council after the 15 members discussed the U.S. proposal, the diplomats and officials said the usually soft-spoken Annan delivered a stern message to the group: They should pursue a resolution they all can support, but he was not going to risk his people for a marginal role. "It was like a cold shower," said Chilean Ambassador Heraldo Munoz. "He was very realistic about how he feels about the U.N. role." Annan had suggested that to reduce the hostility in Iraq toward the occupying powers and others, such as the U.N. staffers, who were perceived to be helping them, there should be a symbolic shift of sovereignty within a few months to an Iraqi provisional government. Then the U.N. or the U.S.-led administration of Iraq — but not both — could work with the Iraqis on drafting a constitution and setting up elections. The Iraqis would invite a U.S.-led multinational force to stay and help stabilize the country. "Obviously, that is not what is in the draft," Annan said after the luncheon. "This had been my suggestion in the sense that it may change the dynamics on the ground, in terms of the security situation, and send a message to the Iraqi people and also to the region." Annan's message chilled the council's reaction to the new draft, which was circulated by the U.S. delegation Wednesday after weeks of consultations with nations who opposed the war and have resisted aiding the occupation. The version offers several concessions, including an expanded but not central role for the U.N., and a multinational force under U.S. command that would make progress reports to the Security Council. It also calls for an accelerated transition to self-rule, directed by the U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing Council, with help from the world body and the U.S.-led coalition. But it did not include the significant changes that Annan and many nations were looking for — especially a symbolic end to the occupation. Annan rejected the idea that both the world body and the occupying authorities could guide the political transition, comparing it to "a horse with two jockeys," a U.N. official said. Squaring off with the U.S. pains the normally nonconfrontational Annan. But shaken by the attacks on his organization in Iraq, and faced with a revolt within the U.N. staff, he was moved to take a firm stand. Even before the session with Annan, reaction to the new resolution had been lukewarm. The strongest criticism had come from France and Germany, which complained that none of their joint proposals had been incorporated in the new text. After the luncheon, diplomats from France, China, Russia, Mexico and Germany said they needed fresh instructions from their capitals because it made no sense to pursue a resolution that Annan found so unsatisfactory. "This changes the whole thing," said one council diplomat. "It puts everything on hold." U.S. officials said Thursday that they may seek a vote on the resolution toward the end of next week but at this point still anticipate at least six members choosing to abstain. A resolution needs nine of 15 votes in favor, and no vetoes, to pass, so one more abstention would kill it. "There's still a lot of work to be done," said an American official who requested anonymity. Discussions will resume Monday. Despite the resistance, there was no sign of a pullback from Washington on Thursday. Secretary of State Colin L. Powell dismissed the idea of handing even nominal authority to an Iraqi provisional government before a constitution is drafted and elections held. The U.S. assumed the responsibility to administer the country as a result of the conflict, he said, and would hold on to it. "This isn't an effort at our part to hang on for as long as we can," he told reporters at the Foreign Press Center in Washington. "We want to move this process along as quickly as possible. "But I think it's a bit naive to suggest that anytime in the next couple of weeks or months you can simply say, 'Here are 25 people. They seem to be getting along. Let's give them responsibility for the country.' They don't have the ability to exercise responsibility or authority over the whole country yet." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Times staff writer Robin Wright in Washington contributed to this report. latimes.com