World>Terrorism & Security
posted May 9, 2005, updated 11:50 a.m.

US refocuses strategy in Iraq

Foreign fighters, Iraqi jihadists now given higher priority over 'former regime elements'.

By Tom Regan | csmonitor.com

A recent rise in suicide attacks that has left at least 300 people dead in the last 10 days, including eight US troops over the weekend, has US commanders rethinking their strategies in Iraq. The Washington Post reports that higher priority will be given to fighting " foreign troops and Iraqi jihadists."

Previously, US authorities have depicted the insurgency as being dominated largely by what the Pentagon has dubbed 'former regime elements' – a combination of onetime Baath Party loyalists and Iraqi military and security service officers intent on restoring Sunni rule. But since the Jan. 30 elections, this segment of the insurgency has appeared to pull back from the fight, at least for a while, reassessing strategies and exploring a possible political deal with the new government, senior US officers here say.


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What is this?

US officers in Iraq admit that the change may only be a temporary one - Sunnis may become more violent if they feel the new political process ignores them - but the rise in attacks to 70 a day over the past month is primarily being fueled by an influx of foreigners, the Post reports.

The BBC reported last Friday on how this new wave of attacks also tips the hand of the insurgency's new focus - targeting the ability of the new government to provide security.

The new US focus, as well as the weekend's heavy casualty toll, are some of the reasons the US launched a major assault in Iraq's western Anbar province, near the Syrian border, a site long believed to be a favorite point for foreign fighters to be smuggled into Iraq. More than 1,000 US troops, along with air support, are involved in the operation which may last several days.

Reuters reports that some 75 militants were killed during the initial stages of the assault. The Associated Press reports that some Marines have said "residents of one riverside town had turned off all their lights at night, apparently to warn neighboring towns of the approaching US troops."

The Associated Press reports that the spike in fighting has caused concern in Washington. Two senior senators, one Democratic and one Republican, said over the weekend that only about one-quarter of the 168,000 Iraqi troops currently being trained are able "or willing" to fight. The outcome of the political process will also make a difference, one way or another, according to Democratic Senator Carl Levin of Michigan.

Levin said if Iraqis fail to write a constitution, elect a new government and develop reliable security forces by early next year, Washington will have to rethink its commitment to Iraq. Sen. Chuck Hagel, a Nebraska Republican and member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, agreed.

The Guardian also reports that US efforts to rebuild Iraq are "are being hampered by management failures and security problems."

The Wall Street Journal said that a comprehensive US audit, expected to be published later today, will also highlight incidences of apparent corruption, fraud and embezzlement.
The special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction, Stuart Bowen, is due to outline challenges facing the $18.4bn rebuilding effort. The audit also says that at least 276 civilians working on US government-funded projects have been killed in Iraq, with another 2,582 wounded, the paper reported.

Meanwhile, the Washington Post reports that US troops have captured the " the suspected mastermind" of last month's daring daylight assault on Abu Ghraib prision in Baghdad. Ammar Adnan Mohammed Hamza al-Zubaydi, was picked up at his home on Saturday. Iraqi and US officials describe him as a "close associate" of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq.