Posted on 11/29/2003 2:12:39 PM PST by Pokey78
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 the end of the deadliest month for the 130,000 American troops in Iraq since the US-led invasion in March.
At least 75 US soldiers were killed in Iraq in November, bringing the overall number of deaths among the troops to 440 since the start of the war. Around 300 of these are listed as having died in combat, almost four times the number of British soldiers to lose their lives.
The "great two weeks" also included the single bloodiest US military post-invasion loss - the collision of two Black Hawk helicopters in Mosul, which the army is now investigating to establish the accuracy of initial reports that one of them was hit by a surface-to-air missile. And in the latest attack on a partner in the US-led coalition, at least six members of a Spanish intelligence team were reported killed in an attack south of Baghdad yesterday.
The fortnight also saw an astonishingly brazen multiple attack in the centre of the capital in which two large hotels and the Ministry of Oil were hit by rockets fired from donkey-drawn carts at the height of "Iron Hammer", an elaborate US anti-insurgency operation using heavy weaponry in and around the capital.
The general said that the daily average number of attacks against American forces had fallen by more than 30 per cent in the past 14 days, and was down to an average of 22 "engagements" a day. But he said there have been more attacks on Iraqis by the US's opponents.
The latter were defined primarily as "mid-level Baathists and former regime loyalists", who have "tactical links" to Islamist fundamentalists and foreign fighters. He said he had no conclusive evidence of al-Qa'ida's involvement, although the network may have supplied some suicide bombers - now dead.
Guerrillas launched more than 150 attacks on Iraqi police and civilians during Ramadan, the Muslim holy month which ended last week. These included twin attacks by suicide car bombers attacked two bases used by the police - seen by the resistance as collaborators with the US - which killed 17 Iraqis, also in the same "great two weeks". But General Sanchez said the level of co-operation and information coming from Iraqis is increasing, and declared that the Iraqi people were committed to the current path.
However, it is doubtful whether his appeal for Iraqis to help in the search for Saddam will amount to much. Although a significant number of Iraqis want the US to stay for now - fearing a premature withdrawal would produce a bloodbath - there is little love lost between the occupied and the occupier. Complaints abound among Iraqis in Baghdad about the continuing electricity and petrol shortages, raging unemployment, lack of security, and the abrasive behaviour of some of the American soldiers.
So far, the US offer of $25m (£15m) for Saddam has yet to lead to his discovery.
In the same "great two weeks", a tape surfaced carrying Saddam's voice, in which he appealed to Iraqis to resist the occupation. This development was taken so seriously by the US-appointed Iraqi Governing Council that it banned the Arabic satellite TV station which aired the tape - Dubai-based al-Arabiya - from broadcasting from Iraq on the grounds that it was inciting violence.
The ban has reinforced cynicism about the occupation among. Iraqis point out that censoring the media hardly squares with the Bush administration's promises to bring freedom and democracy.
"This only makes opposition to the US stronger," said Wahad Yacoub, of al-Arabiya's Baghdad bureau. He also said he believed that any western TV station with such a scoop would have broadcast it.
CNN - yes
CBS - yes
ABC - no
BBC - yes
NBC - ?
PMSNBC - no
FOX - no, (Ollie and Greg would shoot the ___holes)
I would think we have enough of these that the U.S. psyops could make a Saddam tape of their own.
-- Triumph of the Postmodern: The Third World War Revisited. p. 27
*********
With American armies rushing to France to join the allies in World War One, Germany launched an innovative surprise attack at the seam of the British and French armies on the Western Front. Achieving complete surprise, the Germans collapsed the allied front and attained a spectacular breakthrough. Only their inability in the pre-mechanised age to exploit this gap -- and drive deeply into the allied rear echelons -- prevented the Germans from snatching victory from the jaws of defeat. Now the Islamic entente seeks to emulate this feat of arms with a stunning coup de main...
Intelligence services around the world currently in a frantic battle to tie together the loose ends of the maddening puzzle they have unraveled. The Brits have wisely isolated their American and European colleagues from the endgame -- it is their match to win or lose. However defeating the Islamic entente will take more than a dazzling drop-kick from down-under...
The suits in the intelligence game always want to let the quarry run just a bit more -- the take can be dazzling as new leads develop and old queries are answered. This is how careers are made -- and protected.
However it is the field man -- drenched to the skin from the endless rain and numbed to the soul by litres of bad coffee that ultimately knows when the harmless rabbit is about to become the Werewolf. He (or she) has watched and waited -- somehow he just knows...
MI-5 and the rest of the constables need to be unleashed immediately -- to wait another 72 hours is to risk it all. There may be an isolated incident or two as not all will be caught up in the dragnet -- however to wait risks taking the bait, and biting on the fake...
There are some two hundred Islamic entente operatives in the UK known to the Brits. Everyone of them should be picked up immediately. To wait is to gamble too much for too little...
The forces of freedom on the move. Europe trembles.
Though I'm watching the stop watch on this 72 hours in the UK.
So far, we're at 28 hours and 19 minutes since your post. I presume there's and implicit +/- in your estimate but I'll check back in a couple of days!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.