Coalition: Nearly half of new Iraqi army has quit
White House restrictions on Iraq contracts trigger outrage
Thursday, December 11, 2003 Posted: 12:53 PM EST (1753 GMT)
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- About 300 of 700 members of the new Iraqi army have quit, citing unhappiness with terms, conditions and pay and with instructions of commanding officers, a representative of the U.S.-led coalition said Thursday.
"It's a new force, and ... we face some difficulties," the representative said.
In response to the resignations, the coalition will review the terms and conditions and compare them with other security services in Iraq -- the police and Civil Defense Corps, the representative said.
The first and only battalion of the new army serves under the U.S. Army's 4th Infantry Division.
Last month, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said the Pentagon and the Coalition Provisional Authority were discussing recalling some units of the former Iraqi army.
The discussions followed a letter two senators sent President Bush about the "need to speed up the process by which Iraqis assume greater responsibility" for security as the coalition prepares to cede power back to Iraqis in July.
The letter, from Sens. Carl Levin, D-Michigan, and Richard Lugar, R-Indiana, said the new Iraqi army, "which is being created from scratch, currently has less than 1,000 members. We cannot afford to transfer security functions to Iraqis at that slow a pace. The quicker we get the new Iraqi army in place, the more security we are likely to have and the better off Iraq will be."
Bush defends decision
Sharp international consternation greeted Washington's decision to bar opponents of the war from bidding on $18.6 billion worth of reconstruction projects. The move has sparked fierce reactions from countries that didn't back the U.S.-led coalition such as Russia, Germany and France.
At a Cabinet meeting Thursday, Bush defended the decision, saying American taxpayers want the contracts restricted to those countries that "risked lives."
"The taxpayers understand why it makes sense for countries that risked lives to participate in the contracts in Iraq. It is very simple," Bush told reporters.
"Our people risked their lives, a friendly coalition risked their lives and therefore the contracting is going to reflect that. And that is what the U.S. taxpayers expect."
In a written statement, European Union External Affairs Commissioner Chris Patten called the Pentagon move "extremely unhelpful."
"It's not particularly constructive to dredge up these debates and divisions of the past," Patten said. "On the contrary, it's necessary to bring the willing together, not divide them."
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan was also critical of the decision.
"Since the war, we are all trying to bring people together. It is time to rebuild, to work together to stabilize Iraq," Annan said. "Whatever initiative or actions or decisions should be unifying rather than divisive. I would not characterize the decision taken yesterday as unifying."
Appearing at a news briefing with Annan in Berlin, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said the reconstruction of Iraq "is a task for all people, everyone" and "international law must apply."
The flap over the contracts erupted Wednesday as Bush was calling on many of the leaders of the excluded nations to forgive billions of dollars in Iraqi debts.
Bush said he asked French President Jacques Chirac, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Schroeder to meet with former Secretary of State James Baker to discuss restructuring Iraq's debt.
White House officials said the contract policy came up in each of the telephone calls. Bush explained his stand and promised to "keep the lines of communication open," a spokesman said.
But other U.S. officials said the policy would change only if nations opposed to the war offered more financial and diplomatic support for post-war Iraq. (Full story)
The European Commission and World Trade Organization are investigating whether the exclusion violates international law.
Coalition cites Fedayeen raids
More than 50 U.S.-led raids across Iraq have resulted in the capture of dozens of Fedayeen Saddam and other Iraqi insurgents, including those believed responsible for an ambush last month that killed seven Spanish intelligence officers, the coalition said Wednesday.
One of the most extensive raids came in Lutafiyah, a town south of Baghdad, where paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division and Iraqi police carried out Operation Panther Squeeze, going to 18 locations searching for those behind the Spanish attack.
"During the raids, 15 primary targets were captured with a total of 41 enemy personnel taken for questioning," a statement from the 82nd Airborne said.
The 82nd Airborne said the attackers were among those captured, as was the cell leader, a man identified as Abu Abdullah. In addition, forces captured an Iraqi intelligence officer, a financier of the insurgents and doctors "who treat terrorists so they can avoid treatment at local hospitals."
The statement also said a vehicle possibly used in the recent assassination of the Lutafiyah police chief was seized.
The 82nd Airborne said a significant amount of intelligence has come from the Lutafiyah region since the November 29 attack on the Spanish officers.
"There are indications that terrorist activities are no longer tolerable to the average citizen there," the statement said.
The deadly attack on the Spanish officers occurred when rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons hit two cars in a convoy heading south. It took place near Suwayrah, 30 miles (48 kilometers) south of Baghdad, on the main highway connecting Baghdad to Hillah.
Other developments
A reconnaissance and light attack helicopter fires a missile in a field in Tikrit on Thursday.
• A suspected suicide attack Thursday left casualties near the entrance to a U.S. Army base in the central Iraqi town of Ramadi, west of Baghdad, a military spokesman said. There were no reports of deaths, the spokesman said. No other details were available.
• Two journalists and two soldiers were wounded Wednesday night in Baghdad in a hand-grenade attack, according to U.S. military officials. The journalists were accompanying a patrol from the Army's 1st Armored Division when unknown attackers threw hand grenades at the vehicles. The wounded were evacuated to a military medical unit, and their conditions were not known.
• U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has said that it is too dangerous for the United Nations to return to Iraq at this time. "Under the circumstances, it is difficult to envisage the United Nations operating with a large number of international staff inside Iraq in the near future unless there is an unexpected and significant improvement in the overall security situation," Annan said in a report released Wednesday. He said the security situation was unlikely to improve soon and could deteriorate further.
• A U.S. military investigator has recommended administrative action -- not a court-martial -- for a U.S. lieutenant colonel accused of using improper methods to force information out of an Iraqi detainee, a defense attorney said Wednesday. In testimony at an Article 32 Hearing -- the military's version of a grand jury or preliminary hearing -- Lt. Col. Allen West said he watched as four of his soldiers beat the detainee and then he threatened to kill the man and fired a weapon to scare him into talking. The investigative officer's report goes to Maj. Gen. Raymond Odierno, the 4th Infantry Division's commanding general in Tikrit. Odierno could do nothing, choose a range of administrative punishments or refer the case to trial by court-martial.
CNN's Maria Arbelaez, Jane Arraf, Jill Dougherty, John King and Elise Labott contributed to this report. |
