27 September 2006
Terrorists Targeting Iraqis During Holy Month of Ramadan
Coalition spokesman reports progress on Baghdad security, reconstruction efforts
Washington – As Iraqi families observe the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, they are being targeted by armed militants in an upsurge in terrorist and sectarian violence, reports a spokesman for U.S.-led coalition forces.
“The terrorists and illegal armed groups are punching back in an effort to discredit the government of Iraq and, more specifically, the Baghdad security plan,” Multi-National Force – Iraq spokesman Army Major General William Caldwell said during a September 27 press briefing from Baghdad, Iraq.
The number of attacks, especially in and around Baghdad, has increased in the past week, he said. Among the wide range of incidents tracked by Iraqi and coalition forces, suicide car bombings – the weapon of choice for the terrorist group al-Qaida in Iraq – were up 50 percent, an especially significant increase, Caldwell said.
“The clear intent of these high-magnitude attacks are to produce mass casualties,” he said. However, he said, these attacks have proven less effective in producing causalities than previous ones, a testament to the increasing effectiveness of security forces in the Iraqi capital.
But kidnappings, murders and executions by militant gangs in Baghdad’s Shiite and Sunni communities continue to be the leading cause of civilian deaths in sections of the city outside the protective umbrella of the Iraqi-led Baghdad Security Plan.
“It’s been a tough week,” Caldwell said, but added that 35,000 Iraqi soldiers and national police officers, supported by 15,000 coalition troops, are continuing to make progress on the security plan’s centerpiece, “Operation Together Forward.”
IRAQI FORCES SECURING BAGHDAD
“Iraqi security forces outnumber coalition forces 3-to-1 within the city and are facing a tough fight,” Caldwell emphasized.
However, they are taking the fight to the enemy, Caldwell said, with targeted, intelligence-driven operations against terrorists, insurgents and groups perpetrating sectarian violence. (See related article.)
In the past two weeks, Iraqi and coalition forces have carried out 47 assaults against terrorist cells, killing 29 and detaining 140 suspected members of al-Qaida in Iraq and related groups, Caldwell said.
Since mid-July, he added, forces also killed or captured 29 leaders and detained 254 other suspected members of sectarian “death squads” operating in the capital area. The week of September 17 alone, he said, Iraqi forces led 14 of these operations in Shiite and Sunni sections of the city, killing or capturing two cell leaders and 42 perpetrators of sectarian violence.
SECURITY SETS STAGE FOR DEMOCACY, PROSPERITY
Iraqi security forces, Caldwell said, are focusing their efforts on five of the Baghdad’s most violent neighborhoods – Dura, Baya, Mansour, Kadhimiya and Adhamiya, where they intend to search more than 95,000 buildings for illegal weapons, clear the areas of violent elements, hold secured neighborhoods through regular patrols and community policing and help rebuild communities by working with local leaders to identify and fund public works projects such as trash removal and repair of key infrastructure. (See related article.)
“Military forces alone will not bring long-term peace and security to Baghdad,” Caldwell said, making partnership with local and district-level advisory councils to employ area residents to clean and improve their communities an essential element of the Iraqi government’s plan. (See related article.)
To support this effort, Caldwell said, Iraqi authorities, as well as representatives from coalition forces and the U.S. State Department, have established a joint operations center in Baghdad to improve coordination of reconstruction activities across the city. The center also dispatches liaison teams to assist local leaders in the city’s protected area as they identify repair projects, which to date have totaled more than $131 million. (See related article.)
The coalition’s goal is to help the people of Iraq build an independent, democratic, and prosperous future by gradually securing and rebuilding their own country. (See related article.)
Caldwell also said that Iraq’s Council of Representatives has announced the formation of a Constitutional Review Committee. Representing all of Iraq’s political factions, the committee will work over the next four months to develop recommendations for constitutional changes.
The committee, Caldwell explained, will be charged with tackling some of the toughest political issues facing Iraq’s fledgling democracy: equitable distribution of political power and revenues, laws governing investment and development of the country’s energy resources, assessment of policies on former members of Saddam Hussein’s ruling Ba’ath Party, and ways to further national reconciliation among Iraq’s religious and ethnic communities. (See related article.)
“Iraq is living a critical moment in what Iraqis and all of our coalition partners supporting the mission here hope is the beginning of a long history of democracy for both this nation and this region,” Caldwell said. “As Iraqis persevere, we must maintain the patience to allow their critical efforts to come to fruition.”
A transcript of Caldwell’s briefing, along with briefing slides and a video link, is available from the Multi-National Force – Iraq Web site.
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)
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