Posted on 04/30/2004 5:43:18 PM PDT by saquin
WASHINGTON - U.S. military commanders won't wait forever for local political efforts to quell the insurgency in Fallujah, U.S. officials said Friday as they laid out in greater detail the Bush administration's evolving strategy to deal with one of the trickiest standoffs of the war.
Their words foreshadow the possibility of a "strong fight" to gain control of the city, if joint Iraqi-American efforts fail to halt the violence.
Military leaders acknowledge the situation remains delicate as local leaders in Fallujah try different ways to resolve the insurgency. The situation has commanded the daily — sometimes hourly — attention of President Bush, a senior administration official with knowledge of the inner workings of the White House said Friday on condition of anonymity.
"The question is how long do we wait ... to see if these will produce a positive outcome," the administration official said, describing the internal deliberations aimed at ending the standoff between soldiers and insurgents inside the city.
"The answer is, we're trying to wait as long as we can, but the answer is, not forever," the official said.
At the U.S. Central Command's headquarters in Qatar on Friday, Gen. John Abizaid made it clear that while the recent deal struck for an Iraqi force in Fallujah warrants optimism, U.S. officials could still decide to launch a military offensive there, depending on what the insurgents do.
"It may be necessary to have a strong fight in there" if the insurgents don't cooperate, said Abizaid, the top U.S. military commander in the Persian Gulf.
He said it was far from certain that efforts to train an Iraqi force, called the Fallujah Protective Army, would succeed in regaining control of the city, one of the most hostile areas in the tense Sunni Triangle.
That effort continued Friday as convoys of U.S. troops and equipment headed out of parts of Fallujah, replaced by Iraqi troops in red berets, serving under the flag that flew over Saddam's Iraq.
Administration officials and military commanders see the shift of security responsibilities to Iraqis — action that reduces the American profile in Fallujah — as a move toward ending the intense fighting that has brought strong international criticism.
"We're making progress, you bet," President Bush insisted on Friday during an appearance in the Rose Garden. Part of the strategy in Iraq, he said, is to deal with those who are trying to stop the Iraqi people from realizing their ambitions of a free society. "Whether it be in Fallujah, or elsewhere, we will deal with them," Bush said.
The new Iraqi security force in Fallujah also reflects the shift in an initial U.S. strategy to abolish the Iraqi army and sideline former members of Saddam's Baath Party. Leading the Iraqi brigade in Fallujah is Maj. Gen. Jassim Mohammed Saleh, who once served in Saddam's Republican Guard.
Saleh's past ties to Saddam goes to the heart of one worry the Americans have: whether the Iraqis who are trying to calm the situation in Fallujah will be able to live up to their promises to quell violence.
There are other efforts, as well, to try to resolve the situation in Fallujah. Members of the Iraqi Governing Council and city leaders, for instance, issued a statement in mid-April calling on the insurgents to turn in their heavy weapons. Few weapons have been surrendered.
Sheiks and military officials in the region have also offered solutions to end the insurgency.
"The strategy is to reduce as much as possible the hard core of these insurgents, terrorists inside that city — to reduce as much as possible the military mission that might have to be undertaken," the senior administration official said.
"We're exploring every one of these (options) to see if the ideas that they advance, and the assistance that they seek to offer, can reduce the likelihood that we're going to have to solve this problem entirely by a military means," the official said.
So far, none have.
"They're still shooting at us all the time," he said. "They're still reinforcing their positions."
In upcoming days, military commanders, along with administration officials, including the top U.S. administrator in Iraq, L. Paul Bremer, will be assessing whether these efforts "still have some life in them," the official said.
This makes no sense. If a trained force doesn't already exist, there's no way it's going to be created in anything less than several months, even if recruited from the former Republican Guard. Not to mention having them relieve a force that's already in contact with the enemy, one of the tricker operations in warfare.
The Arabs in that area respect power and the use of it. Sadly, nothing else will work.
5.56mm
"The situation has commanded the daily — sometimes hourly — attention of President Bush, a senior administration official with knowledge of the inner workings of the White House said Friday on condition of anonymity."
I don't as a rule trust such reports. But if true, it is a Bad Sign (tm). I understand the desire to give the new Iraqi government a say in how to proceed, and a shot at reducing the hold outs by measures other than use of force by us. But this is clearly dragging, to the clear advantage of our enemies.
Give the Marines plenty of armor and get on with it. Let civilians evacuate - unarmed, with military aged men detained and screened and debriefed. Then go get the hold outs. Make no mistake - they recognize nobody but themselves as the governors of their little corner of Iraq. And they aren't going to, until their direct military power is broken.
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