Iraqi Police May Have Coordinated Attacks

AP/ Yahooooo ^ | 12/29/2003 | Jim Krane

[ConservativeMan55]

Iraqi Police May Have Coordinated Attacks

13 minutes ago

By JIM KRANE, Associated Press Writer

BAGHDAD, Iraq - There is no evidence that al-Qaida terrorists have taken part in the long string of attacks on U.S. or Iraqi targets, but some U.S.-trained Iraqi police appear to have coordinated some of those assaults, the top U.S. military official in Iraq (news - web sites) said Saturday.

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Latest headlines:

·	Iraqi Police May Have Coordinated Attacks AP - 13 minutes ago

·	Iraq's interim leaders review transition plans in face of Shiite poll demand AFP - 36 minutes ago

·	Hillary Clinton Meets With Iraq Officials AP - 49 minutes ago

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U.S. military officials are concerned that some attacks on Americans have been coordinated by a few of the numerous Iraqi civilians hired by the U.S. military, who may glean intelligence on troop movements and travels of high-ranking officers, Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez told reporters at the Baghdad Convention Center.

"Clearly those are concerns we have. We try to do the vetting (of Iraqi employees) as close as we can," he said. "There have been instances when police were coordinating attacks against the coalition and against the people."

He said the insurgency was becoming particularly bloody for Iraqi civilians. Guerrillas launched more than 150 attacks on Iraqi civilian and police targets, killing scores during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which ended last week.

Sanchez also said the United States is boosting the number of infantrymen in Iraq and moving from a force based on tanks and heavy armored vehicles to one specializing in urban raids.

A new phase in the Iraq war, known as Iraqi Freedom II, would begin as current forces are rotated out of Iraq and replaced by new units, including several thousand U.S. Marines, Sanchez said.

"We are going to change the composition of our forces," Sanchez said. "We'll have more infantry. We're moving to a more mobile force, one that has the right blend of light and heavy."

Sanchez said he saw no need for an overall increase in U.S. forces in Iraq, and the number of troops would decrease as transportation, logistics and communications personnel are sent home.

The general said some support troops are being replaced by civilian contractors, in the case of transportation and logistics. The military also is starting to use commercial sources for communications, he said, thus allowing more soldiers to depart.

Washington currently has 130,000 troops in Iraq.

The Department of Defense (news - web sites) had announced this month that the total number of U.S. troops in Iraq would drop to about 105,000 after troop rotations that start in January are completed in May. But the additional marines appear to bump up that total to 110,000.

"There's no way we're going to put this mission at risk in terms of combat power," Sanchez said, explaining the need for the marines, whose normal tasks tend toward invasions, not occupation duties.

"What we're in search of is a very mobile, very flexible, lethal force that can accomplish its mission. Those terms are dictated by the enemy."

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[ConservativeMan55]

I cannot find the other two breaking news stories.

There was an assassination attempt on a Col in Iraq but it was stopped when our troops learned of the plot during a raid.

Also one of Saddam's bodyguards was captured who was inciting violence West of Baghdad.

[ConservativeMan55]

By now I am sure there are spies all over that place!

Probably from every country in the world!

[PGalt]

Interesting. Thanks for the post.

[Eowyn-of-Rohan]

Once again, as with the Taliban, U.S. trains these people, without thinking of the long-term consequences...

[Lion Den Dan]

We have killed far too few Iraqis.

[Captain Kirk]

Cut off one head, and another will spring up. The Pollyanna Wilsonians in Washington who got our troops in this mess should go back to their classrooms.

[CROSSHIGHWAYMAN]

Sounds like the Palestinian dogs.

Time to reopen a few of Saddam's torture chambers?

[ConservativeMan55]

This is the same situation they have in Palestine.

Our FBI is training terrorists!

[ConservativeMan55]

You read my mind.

[Sidebar Moderator]

Iraqi Police Coordinated Attacks

Please don't alter headlines.

Iraqi Police May Have Coordinated Attacks

[ConservativeMan55]

LOL...sorry. Guess I missed it!

[Stultis]

Well, I see it differently. The way I see it we've been in this mess for 12 years, and it's about damn time we went ahead on in and cleared it up. I suspect the costs of not having done so have been far more than the tens of billions of dollars spent each year on the "containment" of Saddam, but also include having emboldened our enemies, preserved their finances, and stifled just about any possible progress toward peace or greater civility in the region.

[chudogg]

only we didn't train the Taliban

[Lead Moderator]

Decimate: 1 : to select by lot and kill every tenth man of

Let's do some tagline revision, okay? Thanks

[LoudRepublicangirl]

We actually did. They were part of the Mujahideen who were resisting the Russian invasion back in the 80's. We had CIA in there training some of them and then they turned it around and used it on us.

[mtbopfuyn]

Confirms my thinking from the get go.

[dts32041]

You know you are the first person to comment on the tag line and recognize where it cam from.

I was just asking a question and you are the first person to answer.

BTW that Tag line has been there for about two months, as you wish I will find another obscure question to ask.

[ConservativeMan55]

I was always afraid of it. It was a given that there would be spies, but coordinated attacks is out of this ball park!