Insurgents target Iraqi leadership
New president warns of 'terrible time' before security restored.
With the transition of power from the US-led coalition to an unelected Iraqi interim government only two weeks away,
Knight-Ridder reports that the US and its allies are "battling Saddam Hussein loyalists, foreign terrorists, and Islamic extremists
for control of Iraq." US officials told
Knight-Ridder Sunday that these insurgents have several key objectives: to undermine the new Iraqi government by making people too afraid to work with it; and to force continued US protection of that government in order to make it look like the US is still calling the shots in Iraq; and to keep alive the idea that the "struggle" is between Muslims and foreigners.
The surge in violence over the weekend in Iraq emphasized this strategy.
MSNBC reports that two officials of the new Iraqi governments
were assassinated as they left their homes for their offices.
The Washington Post reports that a massive
suicide car bomb Monday morning in Baghdad's commercial district killed 12, including
several foreign contractors. Another suicide bomb Monday, targeting Iraqi police officers, killed four. The
Post reports that Iraqi citizens, angry at the lack of security and protections, responded to the bombings by chanting anti-US and Iraqi government slogans at the bombing sites.
Speaking on
NBC's Meet the Press Sunday, Iraq's new president, Sheikh Ghazi al-Yawar, warned that there would be a "
terrible time" in his country before security is restored. Speaking on
Fox News Sunday, US Secretary of State Colin Powell acknowledged how
difficult it was going to be to protect the new Iraqi leadership from attacks.
"It's hard to protect an entire government ... it's very difficult," Powell said. "It is going to be a dangerous period and these murderers have to be defeated. We're moving forward," he added, "and we are going to stay there with our 138,000 troops ... and do everything we can to defeat this insurgency."
The daily violence is having
a dramatic effect on families in Iraq, reports
The Boston Globe. This is particularly true, the paper reports, for families that have decided to work for the new government, and now feel themselves vulnerable in a way they have never experienced before.
"How can you live, how can you shop, how can you work?" he [the father of a young Iraqi killed in a recent car bombing] said, speaking stiffly as his 21-year-old daughter stared into space beside him. "You are walking on the street and every minute you think a bomb could go off." In Fallujah,
USA Today reports that a compromise that gave control of that city to an Iraqi brigade in exchange for the withdrawal of US Marines
remains shaky. "This was a noble experiment that may not work out," Col. Larry Brown, the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force's operations officer, said. "The brigade has not performed as well as we had hoped." Col. Brown said "religious fanatics, disenfranchised tribal leaders, former members of Saddam [Hussein]'s Baath Party, criminals, foreign terrorists and people disaffected by the fighting" are trying to take over the city.
The Los Angeles Times reports that Fallujah has been turned into
a mini-Islamic republic.
Vigilante-style enforcement of religious edicts by the insurgents has been on the rise in recent weeks. Barbers have been warned not to shave men's beards. Several beauty parlors have been shut down, and four purveyors of illicit alcohol were publicly flogged and paraded through town in the back of a pickup truck last month, according to witnesses. Townspeople insist that the insurgents' presence has all but quelled the outbreak of lawlessness that had beset the city as local authority broke down during the months of US occupation. "Fallujah is the safest it's ever been ��� you don't even have to lock your doors because no one will dare to steal," said Hamza Dari, a taxi driver. "I feel much more secure than before."
The Times-Leader, a northeastern Pennsylvania newspaper, reports that the decision to hand over the city to the Iraqi brigade is "
weighing heavy" on US troops who believe they were close to restoring order to the city when their orders were changed.
"When the new orders came down, it was a little weird to see guys you knew were insurgents coming in and out of the cities, people who we'd not allowed to pass before," said Cpl. Maurice Knight, of Williamsport. "You'd see guys, much darker than Iraqis, from the Sudan, and it was obvious they had come here to fight. I know we were just trying to create peace, but this wasn't the right way to do it, because we are going to have to go back in there, sooner than later."
FoxNews reports, however, that the new Iraqi government is
determined to triumph over the attacks and problems areas like Fallujah. These officials say the more positive "big picture" is sometimes being lost in the day-by-day coverage of the violence. They also believe that most people in Iraq are willing to make the sacrifices necessary.
"Every person should be worried about his life, but I think the question should be, 'Are you willing to sacrifice your life to have something good?' The answer would be 'Yes,'" said Zuhair Al-Maliky, Iraq's chief investigative judge. "Iraq is full of patriotic people who are willing to re-establish their country, because they suffered a lot." Finally,
The Washington Post reports that these same new Iraqi leaders are resisting US demands that
foreign contract workers be given immunity from Iraqi law, in the same way US troops are now immune. "They have made that demand," [Iraqi government spokesman George] Sada said. "We think it is a bit too much. It is under discussion."
Also...
•
Pakistan arrests nine linked to Al Qaeda (
CNN)
•
Senators: CIA stalling on review of Iraq report (
CNN)
•
Former officials to criticize Bush foreign policy (
Reuters)
•
Controversial commando wins Iraq contract (
CorpWatch)
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Tom Regan
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