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<p>WASHINGTON — To hear retired Army Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez explain it, the mistakes of the Iraq war that happened while he was in command there weren't his fault. Not Abu Ghraib, not the birth of the insurgency, not the decision to let rebel cleric Muqtada al-Sadr survive.</p>

The Talk Shows Sunday, May 11th, 2008 Guests to be interviewed today on major television talk shows: FOX NEWS SUNDAY (Fox Network): David Axelrod, campaign adviser for Obama; Howard Wolfson, campaign adviser for Clinton; actor Ben Stein. MEET THE PRESS (NBC): Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn.; Clinton campaign chairman Terry McAuliffe. FACE THE NATION (CBS): Former Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C.; Terry McAuliffe, campaign chairman for Hillary Rodham Clinton. THIS WEEK (ABC): Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev.; Carly Fiorina, adviser to John McCain's campaign. LATE EDITION (CNN) : Reps. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., and Chris Van Hollen, D-Md.; Retired Army Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez,...

HIDALGO — Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez is set to headline BorderFest 2008 as Border Texan of the Year. Organizers of the annual cultural festival in Hidalgo announced their choice Tuesday morning alongside Sanchez, a retired three-star Army general who commanded U.S. forces in Iraq in 2003 and 2004. Sanchez was born in Rio Grande City and is a favorite son of the Rio Grande Valley. “This man from Starr County was put on the international stage, and he made us proud. He performed well,” said John David Franz, the mayor of Hidalgo and a member of the committee that chose...

Iraq: Democrats can't seem to handle America winning the war, having invested so much in losing. But why enlist as party spokesman a discredited — and disingenuous — general, whom they themselves used to attack?House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had the former commander of coalition forces in Iraq, retired Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, give the Democrats' radio address last weekend. That's beyond puzzling. Back in 2004, during the investigation into the Abu Ghraib prison abuse flap, Pelosi and other prominent Democrats wanted to see Sanchez's head on a platter. Abu Ghraib was a big reason Sanchez was forced to retire. Not...

In his weekly radio address, President Bush gave thanks for American servicemen "who risk their own lives to keep us safe." Democrats chose retired Army Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez to deliver a rebuttal. "I saw firsthand the consequences of the administration's failure to devise a strategy for victory in Iraq that employed, in a coordinated manner, the political, economic, diplomatic and military power of the United States. That failure continues today," he said. LtGen. Sanchez endorsed the Democratic measure pending in Congress to condition continued funding for the war on a timetable for troop withdrawal. "Although we cannot withdraw precipitously...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The general who led U.S. forces in Iraq after the invasion launched by Republican President George W. Bush spoke out for Democrats on Saturday, backing legislation aimed at withdrawing American troops. Retired Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, in the Democratic weekly radio address, acknowledged that Bush's escalation strategy this year had improved security in Iraq. But he said Iraqi political leaders had failed to make "hard choices necessary to bring peace to their country." "There is no evidence that the Iraqis will choose to do so in the near future or that we have an ability to force...

Retired Lt. Gen. Sanchez blasts failure of U.S. to commit to victory in Iraq By: RET. LT. GEN. RICARDO S. SANCHEZ - Commentary <Editor's note: The following is a transcript of the second half of an Oct. 12 speech give by U.S. Army Ret. Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez, who commanded U.S. forces in Iraq from June 2003 to July 2004. It was the keynote speech of the fifth annual conference of the Military Reporters and Editors, titled "Long Exposure ---- Covering the War and Home Front," at the Doubletree Hotel Crystal City in Arlington, Va., near the Pentagon....

Iraq War: The former commander of coalition forces in Iraq has falsely characterized the Iraq War as an endless "nightmare" and blames politicians. Is this the sour grapes of a failed McClellan shown up by a U.S. Grant? Retired Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, who headed forces in Iraq in 2003 and 2004, was scathing in a speech to military journalists last Friday. He called the Iraq War "a nightmare with no end in sight." The politicians in charge of our strategy were "incompetent," "inept" and so "derelict in the performance of their duty" as to deserve a court martial had...

WASHINGTON — The former top commander of coalition forces in Iraq may have called U.S. efforts there catastrophically flawed and unrealistically optimistic, but much of the criticism of the media by Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez has been left unreported. In his speech to the Military Reporters and Editors Association in Washington, D.C., on Friday, Sanchez accused reporters of "unscrupulous reporting, solely focused on supporting an agenda and preconceived notions of the U.S. military." Without naming a specific company, Sanchez said "parent media organizations" have political agendas that direct the news coverage of the war and in some cases put U.S....

Retired Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez, who led U.S. forces in Iraq for a year after the March 2003 invasion, accused the Bush administration yesterday of going to war with a "catastrophically flawed" plan and said the United States is "living a nightmare with no end in sight." Sanchez also bluntly criticized the current troop increase in Iraq, describing it as "a desperate attempt by the administration that has not accepted the political and economic realities of this war." "The administration, Congress and the entire interagency, especially the State Department, must shoulder the responsibility for this catastrophic failure, and the...

If the Bush administration gets attacked, the press will report it. But what if someone attacks the press? If the attack goes unreported, did it ever really happen? Today General Ricardo Sanchez gave a speech to the Military Reporters and Editors' annual conference, in which he criticized just about everyone associated with our effort in Iraq. The Washington Post's headline was typical: "Former Iraq Commander Faults Bush." Actually, I don't believe Sanchez ever mentioned Bush by name, although, as I say, he was critical of just about everybody. But it would be hard to tell from press accounts of Sanchez's...

MILITARY REPORTERS AND EDITORS LUNCHEON ADDRESS WASHINGTON D.C. LTG (RET) RICARDO S. SANCHEZ 12 OCTOBER 2007 MILITARY REPORTERS AND EDITORS ADDRESS WASHINGTON D.C. 12 OCTOBER 2007 GOOD AFTERNOON LADIES AND GENTLEMEN SOME OF YOU MAY NOT BELIEVE THIS BUT I AM GLAD TO BE HERE. WHEN SIG ASKED ME IF I WOULD CONSIDER ADDRESSING YOU THERE WAS NO DOUBT THAT I SHOULD COME INTO THE LION'S DEN. THIS WAS IMPORTANT BECAUSE I HAVE FIRMLY BELIEVED SINCE DESERT SHIELD THAT IT IS NECESSARY FOR THE STRENGTH OF OUR DEMOCRACY THAT THE MILITARY AND THE PRESS CORPS MAINTAIN A STRONG, MUTUALLY RESPECTFUL...

If ever there was a clearer example of selective reporting and bias by the media, here is the best example to date. The left is translating and selectively quoting LTG (Ret) Ricardo Sanchez' comments during the October 12 Military Reporters and Editors Luncheon in Washington D.C. "Former top general rips Bush’s Iraq policy" is not exactly what happened here, yet if you were to accept their editorializing, that's what many are going to come away with. See a pattern? So what did General Sanchez say, and what did he mean by it? Let me take a stab at it....

It seems that half of the message retired General Richard Sanchez intended to deliver missed the cut at most newsrooms, and with most bloggers. Typical among the reports of his blistering oration is the front-page treatment given by the Washington Post's Josh White, the entire first half of Sanchez's speech -- found in its entirety here -- gets reduced to a single paragraph at the end of the story. Why? Well, it turns out that Sanchez considered his first target the media itself, which he blames for a large part of the problems he sees in Iraq (via Power Line,...

<p>Military reporters and editors address Washington D.C.</p> <p>Some of you may not believe this but I am glad to be here. When Sig asked me if I would consider addressing you there was no doubt that I should come into the lion's den. This was important because I have firmly believed since desert shield that it is necessary for the strength of our democracy that the military and the press corps maintain a strong, mutually respectful and enabling relationship. This continues to be problematic for our country, especially during times of war. One of the greatest military correspondents of our time, Joe Galloway, made me a believer when he joined the 24th infantry division during desert storm.</p>

SAN ANTONIO: The man who led coalition forces in Iraq during the first year of the occupation says the US can forget about winning the war. “I think if we do the right things politically and economically with the right Iraqi leadership we could still salvage at least a stalemate, if you will — not a stalemate but at least stave off defeat,” retired Army Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez said in an interview. Sanchez, in his first interview since he retired last year, is the highest-ranking former military leader yet to suggest the Bush administration fell short in Iraq. “I...

Friday, October 12, 2007 Sanchez, former U.S. commander in Iraq, calls war 'a nightmare with no end in sight' By Jeff Schogol, Stars and Stripes Mideast edition, Saturday, October 13, 2007 AP file photo Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez, V Corps Commanding General, at a welcoming ceremony for soldiers of the 1st Armored Division at their base in Wiesbaden, Germany, in October, 2004. ARLINGTON, Va. – The former top commander of U.S. troops in Iraq slammed the handling of the war and gave a bleak assessment of the current situation in Iraq. “There is no question that America is living...

Retired Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez says there has been a "crisis of leadership" in the administration and the congress that has led to unnecessary deaths, and that the problem has not been solved by the new strategy President Bush announced in January. "After more than four years of fighting, America continues its desperate struggle in Iraq without any concerted effort to devise a strategy that will achieve victory in that war torn country, or in the greater conflict against extremism. From a catastrophically flawed, unrealistically optimistic war plan to the administration's latest surge strategy, this administration has failed to employ...

US can forget about winning in Iraq: top retired general Jun 3 04:29 PM US/Eastern The man who commanded US-led coalition forces during the first year of the Iraq war says the United States can forget about winning the war. "I think if we do the right things politically and economically with the right Iraqi leadership we could still salvage at least a stalemate, if you will -- not a stalemate but at least stave off defeat," retired Army Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez said in an interview. Sanchez, in his first interview since he retired last year, is the highest-ranking...

Germany's federal prosecutors have been asked to launch investigative proceedings against members of the U.S. cabinet. A U.S. human rights group filed war crime charges against U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and other senior U.S. officials and military officers early this week, saying they were responsible for the torture and humiliation of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. soldiers at Abu Ghraib. Even though both the plaintiffs and the suspects are American, the complaint was filed on Tuesday with federal prosecutors at the Bundesgerichtshof in Karlsruhe. The human rights organization, Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), led by its president Michael Ratter, said...

Stepping out of his car to the welcoming sounds of a serenading mariachi, Lieutenant General Ricardo S. Sanchez entered the United South High School library Wednesday for a private evening reception honoring the Army's highest ranking Hispanic. Dressed in casual civilian clothes, and making the rounds to warmly greet each of the nearly 100 veterans, teachers, students and community members who turned out to see him, it was hard to imagine that this was the man who headed more than 130,000 American troops and coalition forces in Iraq. The Rio Grande City native was reassigned last summer to Heidelberg, Germany,...

Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, faulted by some for leadership failures in the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal, has been cleared by the Army of all allegations of wrongdoing and will not be punished, officials said. Three officers who were among Sanchez’s top deputies during the period of the prisoner abuse in the fall of 2003 also have been cleared. An Army Reserve one-star general has been reprimanded, and the outcome of seven other senior Army officer cases could not be learned Friday. Sanchez, who became the senior U.S. commander in Iraq in June 2003, two months after the fall of...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, faulted by some for leadership failures in the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal, has been cleared by the Army of all allegations of wrongdoing and will not be punished, officials said. Three officers who were among Sanchez's top deputies during the period of the prisoner abuse in the fall of 2003 also have been cleared. An Army Reserve one-star general has been reprimanded, and the outcome of seven other senior Army officer cases could not be learned Friday. Sanchez, who became the senior U.S. commander in Iraq in June 2003, two months after...

The high point of [Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez’s] career is, without a doubt, leading U.S. forces in Iraq when Saddam Hussein was captured. The low point, two words: Abu Ghraib.“What did you think when you first saw the pictures?” I asked him.“That could not happen in my Army,” he responded. “It was a situation that was impermissible; that is why we immediately ordered investigations.”. . . One report indicates the commander of the allied troops approved a series of questionable interrogation tactics in September 2003. During our interview, Sanchez denied any such orders were given. He said investigations are continuing,...

RIO GRANDE CITY - Fifth- grader Brandon Ortega's voice quavered as he gave a spirited introduction of his city's most prominent hometown hero. Brandon was welcoming the man behind his elementary school's namesake, the man whose mild smile and Army uniform was pasted on buttons, posters and programs all over the school and town Friday morning. Ortega was introducing Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, former commander of coalition forces in Iraq. After briefly listing the siblings Sanchez grew up with, Brandon began to describe what lay behind the general's storied rise from an impoverished childhood to one of the most prestigious...

RIO GRANDE CITY — Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez said Thursday he was glad to be home after serving as the top U.S. commander in Iraq. "It’s always great to be in Texas, especially back in the Valley," said Sanchez, who attended a parade marshal reception Thursday night in his honor at the Twin Ballroom. The general is scheduled to serve as parade marshal today in the city’s annual Christmas parade. This morning he is scheduled to walk with other city officials to the middle of the Starr-Camargo International Bridge and meet with Camargo city leaders before having breakfast at the...

Situation Is Improved, Top Army Officials Say The top U.S. commander in Iraq complained to the Pentagon last winter that his supply situation was so poor that it threatened Army troops' ability to fight, according to an official document that has surfaced only now. The lack of key spare parts for gear vital to combat operations, such as tanks and helicopters, was causing problems so severe, Army Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez wrote in a letter to top Army officials, that "I cannot continue to support sustained combat operations with rates this low." Senior Army officials said that most of...

After assuming command of the coalition forces, Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sánchez quickly earned a reputation for his candor. Now, after fighting an unrelenting insurgency in Iraq for 14 months, Sánchez hasn't changed his ways. When a junior officer told reporters at the LULAC Convention that he hoped "most of the questions (to the general) center on the convention," Sánchez said, "I can cover the range of issues for questioning. I am not shy." He isn't surprised by the urban guerrilla warfare, he says, but was by the speed of the invasion "We anticipated that at some point, the Iraqis would...

RIO GRANDE CITY — Family members of Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez say their brother accomplished a lot as the top U.S. commander in Iraq. "I think he has done a fabulous job," Robert Sanchez said of the Rio Grande City native, who is scheduled today to turn over his command to a four-star general. A public affairs spokesperson said Sanchez, who has commanded the Multi-National Force-Iraq for several months, will turn over his responsibilities to Gen. George Casey Jr. Sanchez took command of Combined Joint Task Force-7 in Baghdad last year, and the spokesperson said the task force was divided...

Lt. Gen. Sanchez Meets with Security Leaders in Northern IraqStory by Task Force OlympiaMOSUL, IRAQ – Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, commander of Multinational Force-Iraq, visited Mosul Monday to discuss the upcoming transfer of sovereignty on June 30 with Iraqi security officials from throughout Iraq’s three northern provinces – Ninevah, Irbil and Dahuk. Leaders and officials of the Iraqi Security Forces to include the Iraqi National Guard, the Iraqi Police, the Iraqi Border Police, the Iraqi Armed Forces, Facilities Protective Services, and other civil defense leaders came from Dahuk, Irbil and other cities to discuss security needs and concerns with...

American GI Forum convention is today There is a lot in store for those attending the annual American GI Forum convention in Corpus Christi today and Saturday. Today's events begin at 9 a.m. in the Omni Bayfront Hotel's A and B ballrooms, the same rooms where the banquet featuring the keynote speaker, Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, will be held. The banquet begins at 7 p.m. and is $75 per person. Today also features a speaker from the Texas Workforce Commission and, at 11:30 a.m., children from the Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi Child Care Center will perform a play about the...

General's Mother Speaks Out Over Accusations Maria Elena Sanchez has seen a tough life. Fighting to raise her children despite dropping out of school at an early age. Now she is fighting off accusations that her son is somehow responsible for the abuse of Iraqi prisoners. Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez, a native of Rio Grande City, is at the center of the controversy surround the abuse. Some charges link Sanchez directly to the abuse, accusing the three-star general of witnessing interrogations and beatings. Other detractors say that, as Commanding General in Iraq, Sanchez is ultimately to blame for the actions...

Analysts say replacement of top Army leader in Iraq is routine. Family members, friends and military analysts all came to the defense of Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez Tuesday, disputing reports that the general supervised and was aware of the abuse of Iraqi prisoners that took place at the Abu Ghraib prison outside Baghdad. They also denied the notion that the announcement of his replacement had anything to do with the burgeoning scandal, or that the fallout will cost Sanchez a promotion to four-star general and appointment to the U.S. Southern Command, where many speculated he would take over after Iraq....

Sanchez's Reported Departure is According to Rotation Plan By Gerry J. GilmoreAmerican Forces Press ServiceWASHINGTON, May 25, 2004 – The media-reported upcoming departure of Army Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez from Iraq was planned long ago and has nothing to do with the Abu Ghraib prison scandal, a senior U.S. military spokesman noted today. "We have always expected General Sanchez to depart (Iraq) sometime after (the) transfer of sovereignty," Army Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, deputy operations director for Multinational Force Iraq, explained to reporters at a Baghdad news conference. News reports that speculate Sanchez is leaving Iraq prematurely due...

The Defense Department will replace Army Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez as the top U.S. military officer in Iraq at the end of next month, defense officials told NBC News on Monday, stressing that the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal was not a factor in the deliberations. The candidate most likely to take over is Gen. George Casey, the Army’s vice chief of staff, who would assume the new position of unified commander of military forces in Iraq, they said.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A lawyer for a soldier charged in the Abu Ghraib abuse case said a captain at the Iraqi prison has charged that Army Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez was present during some unspecified "interrogations and/or allegations of the prisoner abuse," The Washington Post reported on Sunday. Citing a recording of a military hearing obtained by the newspaper, The Post said the military lawyer, Capt. Robert Shuck, was told that Sanchez, the highest-ranking U.S. military officer in Iraq, and other senior officials were aware of what was taking place at Abu Ghraib. Shuck is assigned to defend Staff Sgt....

An Iraqi insurgent holds up a poster advertising a purported 'reward' of $15 Million US currency for the heads of either US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, coalition forces commander Lt. General Ricardo Sanchez, or military spokesman Brig. Genral Mark Kimmitt in the besieged city of Fallujah.

  Building Iraqi Security Forces Must Continue, Sanchez Says By John D. BanusiewiczAmerican Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, April 11, 2004 – The commander of coalition forces in Iraq said today that continuing to build Iraqi security forces is key to a successful transfer of sovereignty. Appearing on NBC's "Meet the Press," Army Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez told host Tim Russert that the refusal of some Iraqi army members to join in the fighting in Fallujah uncovered some "significant challenges." "We knew that there were some risks that we were taking by standing up security forces quickly," he said,...

TIKRIT, Iraq (AP) — The top U.S. commander in Iraq cast doubt Tuesday on whether Spain would withdraw its troops from Iraq, but added that if they do, the loss would not be "a significant military problem" for the U.S.-led coalition. Spain's incoming prime minister, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, said Monday that he will pull his nation's 1,300 troops out of Iraq by June 30 unless the United Nations takes control. However, Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, the U.S. commander in Iraq, said the decision "is still evolving." "Whether the Spanish decision is going to be staying in this country or...

The Associated Press BAGHDAD, Iraq Jan. 16 — The top U.S. commander in Iraq on Friday urged Saddam Hussein's loyalists to lay down arms and "embrace the future," of a sovereign Iraq, saying they will otherwise end up either dead or in custody. "We will be relentless in the pursuit of these targets," Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, the commander of U.S.-led coalition forces in Iraq, said at a news conference. The U.S. military has captured or killed all but 13 of the 55 most wanted figures from Saddam's regime, including the ousted dictator himself. Since Saddam's capture on Dec. 13,...

Anti-coalition forces and former regime elements should "lay down their arms and embrace the future," the commander of U.S.-led coalition forces in Iraq said in a briefing from Baghdad today. "The former regime is never going to come back," said Army Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez, commander of Combined Joint Task Force 7. "We're going to be relentless in the pursuit of these targets. We're going to capture or kill them, as is our mission. Those that remain at large, and given the pace that we're moving toward sovereignty, it's time for them to lay down their arms and become...

ABU SAIDA, Iraq, Jan. 9 — Aboard a Black Hawk helicopter skimming nose down at 50 feet across a landscape of palm groves and semidesert north of Baghdad, Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez gazed out at lone shepherds and donkey carts and villagers staring back passively at the airborne flotilla hastening northward across Iraq's horizons. Then the headset crackled, and General Sanchez, 52, from Rio Grande City, Tex., who commands the 38-nation coalition of allied forces in Iraq, summarized his thoughts in a way that encapsulated America's challenge here nine months after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein. "They don't want...

RIO GRANDE CITY — Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez is really missing his mom’s tamales. While his mother is sitting down today with his brothers and sisters for Christmas dinner, the top U.S. commander in Iraq is battling insurgents in a country brutalized for decades by Saddam Hussein. However, the general, who was born and raised in Rio Grande City, on Tuesday evening said there is still room for celebration. “We have a whole bunch of entertainers that are visiting us,” Sanchez said from Iraq during a telephone interview with The Monitor. “David Letterman and a bunch of others across the...

Ricardo Sanchez rose from poverty in Starr County to become an Army general RIO GRANDE CITY - When Ricardo Sanchez was 13, he and an older brother told his mother they didn't want to go to school anymore. OK, she said. They could pick cotton instead. "I woke them up at 5 in the morning and sent them off in one of the trucks," said Maria Sanchez, the 77-year-old mother of the highest-ranking military official in Iraq. "They came home and they were very tired, but I just gave them some dinner and told them, 'Go to bed because tomorrow...

AGHDAD, Iraq, Dec. 14 — The wild gray beard was gone, and he sat on a metal army cot, just awake from a nap, in socks and black slippers. He was not handcuffed. He did not recognize all his visitors, but they recognized him. That was the purpose of the visit: to help confirm that he was, in fact, Saddam Hussein. What came next in the Sunday afternoon meeting, according to people in the room, was an extraordinary 30 minutes, in which four new leaders of Iraq pointedly questioned the nation's deposed and now captured leader about his tyrannical rule....

Statement by U.S. Army  Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez   Commander, Joint Task Force Seven   Baghdad, Iraq, Dec, 14, 2003   "Today is a great day for the Iraqi people and for the Coalition. Last night at approximately 8:00 p.m. local, forces from the 4th Infantry Division commanded by Major General Ray Odierno together with Coalition Special Operations Forces conducted Operation Red Dawn to capture the former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. This was done during a cordon and search operation at a remote farmhouse near the city of Tikrit."There were no injuries, and in fact not a single shot...

U.S.-Coalition Offensive Efforts in Iraq Bearing Fruit, Sanchez Says By Gerry J. GilmoreAmerican Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, Dec. 7, 2003 – Recent U.S.-coalition operations against insurgents in Iraq are succeeding, a senior U.S. military commander said today during a briefing from Baghdad. "The only way you win in combat is to stay on the offensive," Army Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez, commander of Combined Joint Task Force 7, told reporters, noting that insurgent actions against American and coalition forces have dropped off in recent weeks. In order not to aggravate Iraqi citizens during U.S.- coalition military operations against insurgents,...

Task Force Commander Says More Mobile Force Will Have 'Right Blend' of Units By Sgt. 1st Class Doug Sample, USAAmerican Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, Nov. 29, 2003 – The coalition forces commander in Iraq said today that a changing U.S. military unit composition will yield a more mobile force in Iraq. "I am a commander that has a mission to accomplish and I have to structure the force accordingly," Army Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, Combined Joint Task Force 7 commander, told reporters in Baghdad. "We are moving (toward) a more mobile force, one that has a right blend of...

US commander's triumphal note jars with deadly toll from guerrilla attacks - which grow ever more brazen America's top military commander in Iraq conceded yesterday that the search for Saddam Hussein is proving "difficult" and appealed for help from the Iraqi population in finding the fugitive dictator.But Lt Gen Ricardo Sanchez also insisted that the last fortnight, in which US forces have been conducting a military offensive against Iraqi guerrillas has been a "great two weeks" for the US-led coalition forces and for Iraq.The general's upbeat views will surprise critics of the occupation, not least because he delivered them at...