30 September 2005
U.S. General Casey Says al-Qaida Forces Must Be Defeated in Iraq
Rumsfeld says terrorists aim campaign at influencing public opinion
By Jacqui S. Porth
Washington File Staff Writer
Washington – The U.S. general in charge of coalition forces in Iraq says al-Qaida foot soldiers operating in that country must and will be defeated.
Army General George Casey told reporters at the Pentagon September 30 that it is important to eliminate al-Qaida terrorist activities in Iraq in the coming six months to 12 months. Those are the forces, he said, that are producing the highest rate of Iraqi civilian casualties and are seeking to foment sectarian violence.
The individuals affiliated with al-Qaida are the ones setting off deadly car bombs, the general added, in an effort to affect public opinion in coalition nations.
“This is a terror campaign,” Casey said, and al-Qaida forces in Iraq “are trying to create the impression that we and the Iraqis cannot succeed” in the struggle between tyranny and democracy. In the coming months, he said, it will be important for Iraq to regain control of its borders to prevent the influx of foreign fighters and suicide bombers.
Once that is accomplished, Casey said there will be an opportunity to deal with remnants of the former regime of Saddam Hussein, which also continue to pose a threat to Iraq’s stability. Elements of the former regime may be responsible for a greater number of daily attacks than those caused by al-Qaida forces in Iraq, he said, “but they are not effective attacks” because they are producing far fewer casualties.
Unlike al-Qaida in Iraq, Casey said former regime elements can be brought back into Iraq’s evolving political process. “Al-Qaida in Iraq is not ever going to enter the political process in Iraq,” he said.
Casey provided his assessment of Iraq along with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld one day after the two men – and other top commanders – had appeared before congressional committees to answer questions about violence and progress in Iraq. (See related article.)
Rumsfeld said millions of people in countries that neighbor Iraq and Afghanistan have taken note of the political reforms taking place in these two “predominantly Muslim democracies.” (See Iraq’s Political Process and Democratic Afghanistan.)
The defense secretary said the situation in Iraq is not deteriorating because every day the Iraqi security forces are growing and becoming better trained, equipped and more experienced.
He said terrorists are trying to portray a different picture through multiple media committees that are targeting public opinion. “They’re trying to do things that are dramatic" to affect public opinion, he said.
Casey said the coming months are crucial to the Iraqi people as they struggle against the twin forces of former regime elements and those affiliated with a global terrorist network that seeks to establish in Iraq a base from which it “can export terror throughout the region and across the globe.” He also expressed confidence that “the Iraqi people will prevail in this struggle.”
Because al-Qaida understands what is at stake in Iraq, Casey said, it is challenging the referendum process using more powerful terror attacks to create the false impression that attempts at progress “are futile and that Iraq can never become a modern democratic society.” Al-Qaida strategy has been to attack the will of the Iraqi people and the will of the public in coalition countries, he said.
Casey said al-Qaida underestimates the determination that exists because “we are more relentless in our [determination to make] progress than those who are trying to disrupt it.”
For additional information see Iraq Update.
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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