By Jeff Schogol - Stars and Stripes Mideast edition
Friday, March 17, 2006
ARLINGTON, Va. — U.S. forces are seeing roadside bombs in Afghanistan similar to the devices insurgents are using against U.S. forces in Iraq, said the commander of Joint Task Force 76.
“What we’ve seen in the past primarily are IED cells that are Afghan-led, but some of the devices that we are seeing are similar to the devices that are being used in Iraq and our current line of thinking is determining what connects those two and how is that technology transferred — or that technique transferred — from one to the other, and we’re looking for those threads as we continue to fight this common enemy,” said Army Maj. Gen. Benjamin Freakley.
Freakley said he did not believe the people who use roadside bombs are themselves migrating from Iraq to Afghanistan.
“I think that the techniques and some of the technology may have come from similar personnel who were instructed on how to build a bomb,” he said.
Freakley said U.S forces continue to look for a “migratory pattern” of roadside bombs from one area to another.
“We do some similar techniques and so we’re trying to determine how the technology transfer is occurring and who is training the bombmakers — how are they being trained and how are they getting ideas from one another.”
Afghanistan shares a border with Iran, from where roadside bomb components have allegedly shown up in neighboring Iraq, according to British Maj. Gen. J.B. Dutton, commander of Multinational Division Southeast.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Tuesday that it is impossible to know definitively if the Iranian government is helping to move roadside bombs into Iraq.
“All you know is that you find equipment — weapons, explosives, whatever — in a country that came from the neighboring country,” he said.
By Sgt. Sara Wood, USA - American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, March 17, 2006 – The sectarian violence that surged after the Feb. 22 bombing of a Shiite mosque in Samarra, Iraq, has tapered off, and Iraqis are optimistic about the future, a top U.S. commander in Iraq said today.
Violence is now at a lower level than it was before the mosque bombing, and the attacks are of the same type they were then, Army Lt. Gen. Peter Chiarelli, commander of Multinational Corps Iraq, said during a video news conference from Iraq.
"I don't want to downplay the tragedy of the violence that has occurred; however, it may be unfair to characterize every post-Feb. 22 event sectarian in nature," Chiarelli said. "Some of those events are sectarian, but far fewer than are being reported. Most of the events are a combination of the work of al Qaeda in Iraq, insurgent attacks designed to prevent progress in building the government, and pure, unadulterated crime."
Chiarelli stressed that civil war is still far away for Iraq, as most of the people there do not see the sectarian divisions that are being stressed by the media. "Many Iraqis are part of mixed marriages and live in mixed neighborhoods and consider themselves Iraqis first," he said.
The Iraqi security forces' response to the recent sectarian violence is just another indicator of their continued progress, Chiarelli said. The Iraqi army is increasingly taking the lead in operations and taking responsibility for battle space, he said. In current operations, such as Operation Swarmer, Iraqi forces take on the majority of the responsibility, with U.S. and coalition forces in supporting roles, he said.
"We're finding Iraqi units, with our support, can be used in just about any operation we do in a counterinsurgency role," he said. "This is a force we have built and the Iraqis have built for that counterinsurgency fight, and I think they're particularly well-prepared, well-trained, and have the ability to do that in just about any area."
The goal is for Iraqis to control about 75 percent of the battle space by the end of summer, Chiarelli said, and all indications are that they will meet that goal. "We're doing a very, very good job, and the Iraqis are doing a great job moving forward," he said.
U.S. and coalition forces will spend extra time this year training the Iraqi police, Chiarelli said. Police training teams, unit partnerships and mentoring will be used to help develop the capability of the police force, which will eventually take responsibility for urban areas, he said.
The U.S. is working with the Iraqi government to build ministerial capacity so the government can provide essential services for all Iraqis, Chiarelli said. Provincial reconstruction teams will work with provincial governments in developing economic systems and building infrastructure so Iraqis can have clean water, electricity, fuel, proper sewage systems and trash removal, he said.
Iraqi citizens remain confident about the future and the progress their country is making, Chiarelli said. The seating of the Council of Representatives yesterday was a big step toward a national unity government, which the citizens are looking forward to, he said.
"I remain convinced that the resiliency and optimism of the Iraqi people will keep Iraq moving in the right direction," he said.
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