Posted on 08/24/2005 12:57:50 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Dozens of insurgents armed with rocket-propelled grenades and assault rifles attacked Iraqi police checkpoints in western Baghdad on Wednesday in some of the heaviest street fighting the capital has seen in months.
Several loud explosions shook the Hay al-Jamia district of the city and at least six police vehicles were set ablaze as a group of around 40 insurgents, some with their faces masked, launched a brazen daylight assault, police and witnesses said.
"It was raining bullets," said a police official, who said a dozen police vehicles had been sent in to try to evacuate those under attack, but had failed against the onslaught of gunfire.
Such bold guerrilla assaults raise questions over the capabilities of Iraqi forces, who are expected to take over security from the 138,000 U.S. troops in the country.
General Rashid Faleh, a police special forces commander, told state television Iraqiya the attack killed 10 civilians and three policemen. A police source said 43 people were wounded.
Police shot dead two attackers, detained two and seized four cars filled with weapons, the source said. A police commander said Iraqi forces had called for U.S. military reinforcements.
Major General Douglas Lute, head of operations for the U.S. Central Command, said the United States must not hesitate to hand over to the Iraqi military when it is ready and banish the appearance of occupation that may hinder political progress.
Political talks such as those now taking place between Iraq's Shi'ite, Sunni and Kurdish communities on a constitution were vital to defeating the insurgency, Lute said.
"Everything in a counterinsurgency has to do ultimately with the political outcome, not the military outcome," he told reporters during a visit to London.
Parliament is due to vote on Thursday on a new constitution backed by the Shi'ite-led government, but opposed by Sunnis.
Sunni Arab insurgents have threatened to kill anyone taking part in mainstream politics or drafting the constitution.
A senior U.S. military official said on Wednesday his forces were bracing for an insurgent onslaught as the Shi'ite and Kurdish-dominated parliament prepared to adopt the constitution.
"We believe that the enemy is still ... intending to conduct some larger-scale operation in Baghdad associated with the release (of the constitution)," he said.
Iraqi President Jalal Talabani held another day of talks with leaders from the Sunni, Shi'ite and Kurdish communities on Wednesday to try to forge a consensus on the charter, but he looked unlikely to succeed before the vote on Thursday.
STAUNCH OPPOSITION
Sunni leaders said they were determined to stand firm against a document they argue would devolve too much power to the regions and which demonizes Saddam Hussein's Baath Party.
"We reject federalism in the central and southern regions, we reject it because it has no basis other than sectarianism," Adnan al-Dulaimi, head of an umbrella group called the National Conference for the Sunni People of Iraq, told reporters.
"Every Iraqi must stand in the way of all those who want to deepen sectarianism in Iraq."
In Hawija, north of Baghdad, hundreds of Sunnis marched against the constitution, saying it had been presented to parliament without consensus.
Supporters of Moqtada al-Sadr, a rebellious young Shi'ite cleric who also strongly opposes the constitution, joined the demonstrations in Hawija. He has maintained political ties with some Sunni groups and stresses a common Arab, Iraqi nationalism.
Sunni opposition means the Shi'ites and Kurds, who dominate the government and have an overwhelming majority in parliament, will likely force approval through the National Assembly.
The approved text will then have to be put to a referendum by mid-October. Sunnis are already rallying their supporters to reject it. If two-thirds of voters in at least three of Iraq's 18 provinces vote "No," the constitution is rejected.
Sunnis have a majority in at least three provinces, and hope followers of Sadr will also vote "No," ensuring the document is defeated. New elections would then be held.
VIOLENCE FEARED
All Iraq's factions fear an upsurge of violence if the Sunnis cannot be brought on board. The clashes in Baghdad were matched by attacks elsewhere in the country.
Gunmen attacked a convoy carrying the deputy justice minister in Baghdad, killing four of his bodyguards. The deputy minister escaped assassination.
In Baquba, north of Baghdad, four mortar rounds hit an Iraqi police base, wounding at least seven people. Two mortar rounds hit a checkpoint south of the capital, killing a soldier.
Shi'ites and Kurds are hoping not only that the charter will win support in parliament, but also that they can convince Sunnis eventually that it is a document for all Iraqis.
"There are many Sunnis who support the constitution as it stands," Hussain al-Shahristani, the deputy speaker of parliament and a Shi'ite, said last week.
Iraqi Sunnis demonstrate against the country's draft constitution in al-Hawija, 70 km (43 miles) south of Kirkuk, August 24, 2005. Sunni Arabs stood staunchly against a new constitution on Wednesday, making it likely the Shi'ite-Kurdish backed document will have to be rammed through parliament over Sunni opposition later this week. (Salahaldeen Rasheed/Reuters)
Imagine that -- demonizing Hussein's Baath Party. Talk about hitting below the belt.
Joined by how many from Chechnya, Syria, Iran and Jordan?
Maybe if the Sunnis hadn't been so stupid as to not vote in large numbers they'd have had more of a say in the drafting of the constitution. This is what happens when Arab bravado and testosterone get the better of one's common sense.
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