Interview: Top US commander in Iraq

Gen. Raymond Odierno outlines the challenges facing US forces as they continue to tamp down violence while working toward a June deadline to withdraw from Iraqi cities.

from the April 2, 2009 edition

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Part of that violence, in the US view, was enabled by Iran, whom the US has accused of interfering in Iraqi politics as well as exporting lethal weapons and training fighters to attack coalition forces. He believes it is too early to tell whether a US overture to Iran has stemmed such activity.

"They're still training – although, we believe, less than they were. They are still training surrogates that are coming into Iraq to conduct operations – we would really like to see that stopped."

Force that fought Al Qaeda at odds with Iraqi government

Another issue the US is watching closely is a recent flare-up between the Iraqi government and parts of the 90,000-strong Awakening movement, now known as the Sons of Iraq (SOI). The Iraqi government last week arrested an SOI leader in Baghdad, accusing him of widespread extortion. The US recently handed control of the force to Iraq's Shiite-led government, which remains suspicious of the mostly Sunni force. Iraqi bureaucracy has contributed to a recent delay in paying the fighters, some of whom have threatened to return to their roots in the insurgency.

Odierno made a point of saying the coalition was closely monitoring how the Iraqi government was handling the issue.

"I watch it very closely – we understand how important this is to the Sunnis – this is one of those confidence-building measures of accommodation that will lead to reconciliation and so we'll have to continue to watch it," he says, adding that he expects the payment problems to be resolved in the next few days.

'So far, so good'

Odierno says he has so far not seen a resurgence of insurgent activity as US troops begin to pull back to bases outside the urban centers.

"I would argue that so far, so good, but we are watching it very closely to make sure that some of these groups are not trying to exploit [the situation] as we transition responsibility over to the government of Iraq."

Mosul is considered by the military to be the last urban stronghold of AQI. As AQI continues to be pushed out of northern cities where they've fled from Baghdad, they have moved to increasingly remote areas. A quarterly Pentagon report released Tuesday said Al Qaeda remained active in the Hamreen mountains, in eastern Diyala Province.

"It's an area where they've been forced to go," says Odierno. "We're now pressing them in some of their last areas – Mosul is one of them; the eastern Diyala mountains are another one."

Clearing neighborhoods, one by one

In Mosul's Seven Nissan neighborhood, Col. Gary Volesky, commander of the 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, introduces the general to Iraqi Army officers and soldiers his brigade has worked with over the past 40 days to clear the neighborhood – essentially blocking it off, capturing or killing insurgents, and determining who are the legitimate residents.

"Thank God, it's a lot safer all over Mosul," says Nahla Abdul Hadi Daud, standing next to a truck piled with mattresses. Her family must move because the owner of their home has decided it's safe enough to return.

The safety, though, is relative. A truck packed with explosives last week drove down a railroad track near a police station in Mosul, killing at seven people when it detonated. On Thursday, a car bomb exploded, killing at least one civilian.

"We've seen more and more of these attacks – as the Iraqi security forces continue to expand their capability, [insurgents] are focused on intimidation," says Colonel Volesky, who lost a battalion commander and three other soldiers in a suicide car bombing in January. "But the security forces haven't quit or stopped their operations, and they continue to do operations with us."

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