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02 March 2006

U.S. General Praises Iraqi Government's Security Efforts

Insurgents continue targeting civilians to inflame sectarian violence

By David I. McKeeby
Washington File Staff Writer

Washington –-In recent weeks, Iraqi government, police and military forces took rapid and effective security measures that limited damage and saved lives, says a spokesman for the coalition forces.

“At the point of crisis, the Iraqi leadership came together and made conscious decisions to improve the security situation,” said U.S. Army Major General Rick Lynch, with Multi-National Force-Iraq in a March 2 briefing from Baghdad, Iraq.

“You’ve got to think like the enemy,” said Lynch, predicting that insurgents will continue to mount attacks against civilians, try to derail the democratic process, and “use information operations to make the impact of the attacks worse than they are and … create perceptions of an unsecured environment.”

Lynch said that the overall number of actual attacks and protests remain far lower than those widely reported in the media. (See related article.)

Iraqi and coalition forces continue to investigate all reports of violence.

Lynch reported that since the February 22 bombing of the Golden Mosque in Samarra:

• There have been 33 attacks on mosques, with two mosques destroyed and seven more sustaining significant damage;

• The coalition can confirm 319 Iraqi civilians killed in street violence. 

• A total of 21 protests with crowds of more than 1,000 people were staged.  The vast majority were peaceful, thanks, he said, to the presence of Iraqi security forces; and

• Iraqi and coalition forces carefully have been investigating claims concerning individuals within the Iraqi security forces who may be involved in sectarian violence.  He said that no allegations have been confirmed.

Lynch told reporters that the insurgency took advantage of the post-bombing street violence to prepare a new surge of attacks, as evidenced by the 55 percent increase in murders and bombings that appear to have specifically targeted civilians.

Lynch told reporters that intelligence indicates that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, leader of al-Qaida in Iraq, is facing pressure from al-Qaida to show greater progress in fomenting violence among Iraq’s communities.

He added that coalition forces, which captured 61 members of al-Qaida in Iraq, as well as a significant cache of bomb-making materials and munitions in a February 26 raid in Al-Anbar province, 30 miles north of Fallujah, are increasing the pressure on al-Zarqawi.

For more 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)