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18 June 2003

U.S. General Says Iraqi Attacks Militarily Insignificant

(Defense Department Report, June 18: Iraq operations) (930)
By David Anthony Denny
Washington File Staff Writer
Washington -- The commander of the U.S. Army's hi-tech Fourth Infantry
Division says he is seeing Iraqi military activity throughout his
division's area of responsibility, but that the activity is
"militarily insignificant."
At a Pentagon teleconference from Baghdad June 18, Major General Ray
Odierno said that he has 27,000 troops under his command, operating
over three provinces of northeastern and central Iraq. "Our area of
responsibility stretches from just north of Baghdad to the Iranian
border in the east, and stretches north to the oil fields north of
Kirkuk and includes Tami, Tikrit, Samara and Ballad, and west to Lake
Tartar," he said.
Odierno said the opposition military resistance is "small ... very
random ... and very ineffective. ... They're having no impact on the
way we conduct business on a day-to-day basis in Iraq."
Odierno provided the media with an update of the current situation in
the area of Iraq under his control since his command began operations
75 days ago. He said his soldiers "are involved in almost daily
contact with noncompliant forces, former regime members and common
criminals."
To defeat these attacks and improve security and stability, U.S.
forces conduct "search-and-attack missions, presence patrols and raids
to disarm, defeat and destroy hostile forces, as well as to capture
the former regime members," Odierno said. A critical step in providing
stability, he said, was "orchestrating the peaceful disarmament of the
People's Mujahedin of Iran (MEK)," resulting in the "consolidation" of
about 5,000 people and 2,000 pieces of military equipment.
Over the past week, the task force has conducted two major operations,
Odierno said: Peninsula Strike, which was a combined air, ground and
riverine operation to isolate an area considered to be a stronghold of
Saddam Hussein loyalists; and Operation Desert Scorpion, a series of
more than 50 raids on suspected terrorists, Ba'ath Party members and
Fedayeen fighters.
In Peninsula Strike, close to 400 people were detained, and more than
60 have been confirmed as members of the old Iraqi intelligence
service, the Fedayeen or as Republican Guard leadership, Odierno said.
Desert Scorpion has also detained about 400 individuals, he said,
including local leaders of some new radical groups, such as the New
Return and the Snake Party -- essentially Ba'athists by another name.
On June 18, four hours before the briefing, Odierno said, U.S.
infantry forces raided two farmhouses outside Tikrit, and seized $8.5
million in U.S. currency and 300-400 million Iraqi dinar, along with
English pounds and Euros not yet counted, an estimated $1 million in
jewels and gems, and Russian-made night-vision goggles, sniper rifles,
uniforms and equipment of Saddam's personal guard -- plus 15-20 people
associated with his personal security forces.
Then, just before the briefing, Odierno said a vehicle trying to flee
from the scene of the farmhouses was stopped, and $800,000 was
confiscated.
Apart from military strikes, Odierno noted the provincial government
selection process that occurred in Kirkuk in May as a positive step.
"Three hundred delegates representing each ethnic and political group,
religious leaders and businessmen representing the province selected
the interim Kirkuk city council and in turn elected a Kurdish mayor,
an Arabic deputy mayor and three assistant mayors to chair the offices
of de-Ba'athification, government design, and resettlement and
compensation," Odierno said.
The commander also highlighted results of recent efforts to restore
municipal services, which include:
-- Over 4,000 police have been screened and hired;
-- A provisional police academy has opened in Ba'qubah, and a second
one is in development in Kirkuk;
-- All police stations were damaged and looted; all have been assessed
and equipment requirements identified in all major cities;
-- Joint police patrols are being conducted in every city;
-- All courts have been assessed, and 15 courts have been opened with
staff judge advocate military personnel monitoring proceedings;
-- Translated court records have been reviewed for due process, and
former Ba'ath Party judges have been vetted and removed from
participation;
-- Of 43 banks, 37 have been opened, with all bank records reviewed to
ensure account, salary and payroll accuracy.
-- Salaries are being paid to police, government employees, hospital
workers, teachers, power plant and water and sanitation workers, as
well as emergency payments to pensioners;
-- Food continues to be distributed, and payments for the harvest have
begun; and
-- There is no food shortage in the area under 4th Infantry Division's
control; World Food Program warehouses are restocked.
In public works, Odierno said the situation is much the same:
-- A 600-meter assault float bridge has been built across the Tigris
River, as well as a 400-meter bridge in al Sadiyah -- both critical
for civilian and military crossing traffic;
-- A bypass has been built around a damaged bridge pipeline, allowing
residual oil to flow from Baiji refineries into Kirkuk;
-- Health policy is being coordinated with the Iraqi health ministry;
-- Twenty-four of 28 hospitals are fully operational and 15 clinics
are open and stocked with proper medicines;
-- Infrastructure has been repaired and commercial power restored to
three medical facilities, and an immunization program has been
facilitated, resulting in 3,000-plus immunizations so far.
-- The Baiji refinery has been put back on line, producing 4.7 million
liters of benzene daily, as well as 187 tons of liquid propane gas;
and
-- In public education, 98 percent of all schools are open, with
year-end exams scheduled for the end of the month; numerous school
repair and refurbishment projects have been established.
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International
Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site:
http://usinfo.state.gov)