Iraq: New enemy may need new tactics

Having focused its combat operations for months on a stubborn Baathist resistance, the US military said on Monday that it could be up agains...

Having focused its combat operations for months on a stubborn Baathist resistance, the US military said on Monday that it could be up against a new and more elusive foreign adversary after a wave of suicide car bombings rocked Baghdad.

As recently as Sunday night, Army Brig. Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, the commander of the 1st Armored Division, said he and his staff had ‘‘not seen any indication of foreign fighters’’ in Baghdad. That assessment changed on Monday after attacks struck three police stations and the headquarters of the Red Cross and Iraqi police captured a man believed to be a Syrian national attempting a suicide bombing at yet another police station.

‘‘What Gen. Dempsey was saying was that we had not seen an attack that we could directly attribute to foreign fighters,’’ Brig. Gen. Mark Hertling, his deputy, said at a news conference after the attacks. ‘‘We have seen those today.’’

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He cited the captured Syrian and other ‘‘intelligence indicators’’ as evidence that the attacks were most likely perpetrated by foreigners. But other US commanders in Iraq appeared sceptical that foreign fighters posed much of a threat.

The military could find itself facing two difficult adversaries whose defeat will require different tactics, including intelligence capabilities that have never been the military’s strong suit. While military commanders have increasingly focused on gathering tactical intelligence from Iraqis to generate raids on former Saddam loyalists living in their midst, different intelligence networks would have to be built to go after foreign terrorists.

‘‘There’s a couple of schools of thought on whether there is a replenishment of fighters and where the source of that replenishment may be,’’ Dempsey said. Foreign fighters, on the other hand, could draw from a well of Islamic fundamentalists and recruit foot soldiers.

Retired Marine Lt. Gen. Paul Van Riper said the challenge confronting the military goes far beyond intelligence network and tactics aimed at thwarting terrorist attacks. ‘‘The real question is whether the administration can articulate what its strategy is, and if it can, does the military have a plan to carry out that strategy? Too many are focused on the tactics and not the needed strategic and operational plans,’’ Riper said.(LAT-WP)

Day after, suicide bomber kills six civilians

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FALLUJAH: At least six people, including children, were killed by a car bomb near a police station in Fallujah on Tuesday, just a day after 43 people died in the bloodiest day in Baghdad since US troops seized the city.
At least six severely charred and mutilated bodies lay on the ground after a pick-up truck blew up about 150 meters from the police station. Another eight people were wounded, according to hospital sources. The attack came as police cleared the rubble after yesterday’s synchronized suicide car bombings in Baghdad, which devastated the offices of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and four police stations. The killings rang in the traditionally peaceful and solemn Muslim holy month of Ramzan. They delivered a defiant message as the killers targeted a humanitarian agency, dedicated to Iraq’s reconstruction, and the police, considered the very backbone of US plans to restore law and order.
‘‘The message to international groups is don’t come here and rebuild the country. The message to Iraqi police is if you think you can work with the Americans, you’re wrong.’’For many in the military, the car bombings, coming on the first day of Ramzan, brought to mind the 1968 Tet Offensive during the Vietnam War. ‘‘Like Tet 1968 in Vietnam, it is a religious holiday that is being used to show us the extent of the strength of the bad guys,’’ said retired Air Force Col. Sam Gardiner.

Iraqi press condemns suicide attacks
Baghdad: The Iraqi press lashed out on Tuesday at fallen dictator Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden over the suicide bombings that claimed the lives of 43 people and wounded more than 200. ‘‘The bombings are the terrorists’ gifts for Ramzan,’’ the daily Al-Mada wrote. Ad-Dustur daily chimed in with vitriol for bin Laden. ‘‘Bin Laden, that sage of religion and piety, has given Iraqis five explosions to start Ramzan,’’ it wrote.

Bush blames Baathists, foreigners
WASHINGTON: US President George W. Bush on Tuesday blamed a wave of violence in Iraq on members of Saddam Hussein’s deposed Baathist party and ‘‘foreign terrorists’’. ‘‘The Baathists try to create chaos and fear because they realise that a free Iraq will deny them the privileges they had under Saddam,’’ Bush said. ‘‘The foreign terrorists are trying to create conditions of fear as they fear a free and peaceful state in the midst of a part of the world where terror has found recruits.’’ (Agencies)