Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Washington Times
November 3, 2007
Pg. 1
By David R. Sands, Washington Times
Al Qaeda terrorists have been "almost defeated" in Iraq's Anbar province, once considered the heart of the resistance to the U.S.-led coalition, a top Anbar Sunni leader said yesterday.
But Abdulsalam Mohammed, chairman of the Anbar Provincial Council, and other top Anbar officials visiting Washington said U.S. troops and billions of dollars in U.S. aid will still be needed for years to train and equip local security forces and restart the devastated local economy.
"Al Qaeda is almost defeated in Anbar, except for only small parts of the province," Mr. Mohammed said, speaking in Arabic through an interpreter.
The overwhelmingly Sunni residents of Anbar broke with the Islamist terror group "because it became very, very clear that theirs was not a religious ideology, but an ideology of murder and kidnapping and taking what is not theirs," he added.
The so-called "Anbar Awakening" — an alliance of Iraqi tribal leaders who allied with U.S. forces to fight al Qaeda — has been one of the unexpected success stories of the U.S.-led campaign, driving down violence and driving out militants in a province some U.S. officials had given up for lost just a year ago.
Sheik Abdul Sattar Abu Risha, founder of the "Anbar Salvation Council" of local Sunni tribes, was killed by a bomb in Ramadi in September, just 10 days after he met with President Bush in Iraq to discuss his movement. Sheik Ahmed Abu Risha, the slain sheik's brother, was a member of the Anbar delegation visiting Washington.
With U.S. and Iraqi civilian deaths down markedly in recent months, the Bush administration is trying to replicate the Anbar success in other Iraqi provinces.
The Anbar delegation, on a State Department-sponsored U.S. tour that will include stops in Texas and Vermont, met with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and senior congressional leaders during their visit.
Anbar provincial Gov. Maamoon Sami Rasheed said local authorities need substantial material and logistical aid from the U.S. despite the recent progress.
"We need 30,000 police officers in the province, and now we have only 21,000," the governor said. "Our security forces need weapons, vehicles, communications devices."
The 39 reported U.S. military fatalities in October marked the lowest number in 18 months, but Iraq's security situation remains delicate.
Three American airmen were killed Thursday in combat operations near the U.S. air base at Balad, and a Polish soldier was killed by a roadside bomb yesterday, coalition officials announced.
Mr. Mohammed said U.S. troops will have to play a major role in Iraq's recovery for some time, training Iraqi security forces, fighting the insurgents and containing the often-hostile sectarian forces inside the Iraqi government.
"I believe that until next July, there will not be a situation where we have reached a certain stability, in Iraq and in the region in general" to allow a major U.S. troop withdrawal, he said.
Sheik Abu Risha said the battle between al Qaeda and U.S. forces had "devastated" the infrastructure of the province. He estimated it will take at least $2 billion to rebuild the local economy.
"The people of Anbar united with the American army to fight al Qaeda together," he said. "So now we are asking that we compensate this province for all of the destruction they faced."
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, whose base is in the Shi'ite parties of the south, has expressed suspicion over the alliance of U.S. forces with the Sunni tribes, which has largely bypassed the central government.
But the Anbar delegates argued that Baghdad should be doing more to support provincial reconstruction efforts.
"Their fears do not have any justification because we are all on the same side, we're all after the same objective," Mr. Rasheed said.
November 3, 2007
Pg. 1
By David R. Sands, Washington Times
Al Qaeda terrorists have been "almost defeated" in Iraq's Anbar province, once considered the heart of the resistance to the U.S.-led coalition, a top Anbar Sunni leader said yesterday.
But Abdulsalam Mohammed, chairman of the Anbar Provincial Council, and other top Anbar officials visiting Washington said U.S. troops and billions of dollars in U.S. aid will still be needed for years to train and equip local security forces and restart the devastated local economy.
"Al Qaeda is almost defeated in Anbar, except for only small parts of the province," Mr. Mohammed said, speaking in Arabic through an interpreter.
The overwhelmingly Sunni residents of Anbar broke with the Islamist terror group "because it became very, very clear that theirs was not a religious ideology, but an ideology of murder and kidnapping and taking what is not theirs," he added.
The so-called "Anbar Awakening" — an alliance of Iraqi tribal leaders who allied with U.S. forces to fight al Qaeda — has been one of the unexpected success stories of the U.S.-led campaign, driving down violence and driving out militants in a province some U.S. officials had given up for lost just a year ago.
Sheik Abdul Sattar Abu Risha, founder of the "Anbar Salvation Council" of local Sunni tribes, was killed by a bomb in Ramadi in September, just 10 days after he met with President Bush in Iraq to discuss his movement. Sheik Ahmed Abu Risha, the slain sheik's brother, was a member of the Anbar delegation visiting Washington.
With U.S. and Iraqi civilian deaths down markedly in recent months, the Bush administration is trying to replicate the Anbar success in other Iraqi provinces.
The Anbar delegation, on a State Department-sponsored U.S. tour that will include stops in Texas and Vermont, met with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and senior congressional leaders during their visit.
Anbar provincial Gov. Maamoon Sami Rasheed said local authorities need substantial material and logistical aid from the U.S. despite the recent progress.
"We need 30,000 police officers in the province, and now we have only 21,000," the governor said. "Our security forces need weapons, vehicles, communications devices."
The 39 reported U.S. military fatalities in October marked the lowest number in 18 months, but Iraq's security situation remains delicate.
Three American airmen were killed Thursday in combat operations near the U.S. air base at Balad, and a Polish soldier was killed by a roadside bomb yesterday, coalition officials announced.
Mr. Mohammed said U.S. troops will have to play a major role in Iraq's recovery for some time, training Iraqi security forces, fighting the insurgents and containing the often-hostile sectarian forces inside the Iraqi government.
"I believe that until next July, there will not be a situation where we have reached a certain stability, in Iraq and in the region in general" to allow a major U.S. troop withdrawal, he said.
Sheik Abu Risha said the battle between al Qaeda and U.S. forces had "devastated" the infrastructure of the province. He estimated it will take at least $2 billion to rebuild the local economy.
"The people of Anbar united with the American army to fight al Qaeda together," he said. "So now we are asking that we compensate this province for all of the destruction they faced."
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, whose base is in the Shi'ite parties of the south, has expressed suspicion over the alliance of U.S. forces with the Sunni tribes, which has largely bypassed the central government.
But the Anbar delegates argued that Baghdad should be doing more to support provincial reconstruction efforts.
"Their fears do not have any justification because we are all on the same side, we're all after the same objective," Mr. Rasheed said.