Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
USA Today
December 20, 2007
Pg. 8
Infrastructure at risk, despite drop in violence
By Patrick Quinn, Associated Press
BAGHDAD — The top U.S. commander in northern Iraq warned Wednesday that al-Qaeda in Iraq was still capable of staging spectacular attacks despite a 50% drop in bombings and other violence in his region.
Army Maj. Gen. Mark Hertling said al-Qaeda in Iraq was being pushed north by the increased numbers of U.S. troops that went into Baghdad during the summer and fall. The insurgents are also being flushed out of Anbar province by "awakening councils" — groups of Sunni Arab tribesmen the U.S. military has backed to help fight al-Qaeda in Iraq and its allies.
"Many of them have transited our province" of Diyala, which has seen some of the worst violence in Iraq, Hertling said. "There are still some very bad things happening in that province, but we are continuing to pursue al-Qaeda so they don't find a safe haven anywhere."
He said al-Qaeda extremists could still carry out attacks against infrastructure projects such as bridges. "There are going to be continued spectacular attacks," he said when asked about the bombing of a bridge across the Mosul dam on Monday. The attack, carried out with a truck bomb, closed the bridge to vehicle traffic.
Built in the 1980s on the Tigris River, the dam made headlines in June after a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers report said potential erosion of its foundation could cause it to buckle under the water pressure, flooding Mosul and parts of Baghdad, 225 miles to the south.
"We have some intelligence that says it was part of a bigger plot. There is some intelligence that they may have wanted to cut off that side of the river to make safe havens," Hertling said. "There are some indications that they wanted to close that route because it is used by coalition forces."
He said that during an ongoing operation against insurgents and al-Qaeda in western Diyala province, military forces discovered weapons caches, a torture chamber with a bed that was wired to electrocute victims, and knives and swords covered in blood.
Violence in Iraq has abated in recent months, and the U.S. military has said it has dropped by as much as 60%-70% in some places.
In Baghdad, the death toll Wednesday was unusually low: One bullet-riddled body was found washed up along the Tigris River, while another man was killed by a roadside bomb.
Wednesday's drop may have been a result of the start of the Eid al-Adha holy celebration for Sunni Muslims in Iraq. Shiites, who also celebrate the day, will mark Eid on Friday.
Hertling said the four provinces under his command had seen a marked reduction of attacks by improvised explosive devices — also known as IEDs — such as roadside bombs. "We have seen a precipitous decline in IED operations," he said, adding that they had dropped by 50% from June, when there were 1,698 attacks, compared with 849 in November.
Even so, such bombings still plague the region, and Hertling's troops have been working to restore a major highway in western Mosul that has been closed because of IED attacks.
In other Iraq news:
Two U.S. soldiers who died in Iraq in February were killed by "friendly fire," according to a military investigation. Pvt. Matthew Zeimer, 18, and Spc. Alan McPeek, 20, were killed at an Army outpost in Ramadi on Feb. 2. The families of the two soldiers initially were told the men were killed by enemy fire.
In response to a Freedom of Information request by the Associated Press, the military released its subsequent probe. The families were told in March that the men may have been killed by comrades.
The investigation found that the two were killed by tank fire from a second Army outpost after insurgents engaged both outposts. The report said decisions and actions by the tank crews and their command "directly created the conditions which caused this accident, including deficiencies in training."
December 20, 2007
Pg. 8
Infrastructure at risk, despite drop in violence
By Patrick Quinn, Associated Press
BAGHDAD — The top U.S. commander in northern Iraq warned Wednesday that al-Qaeda in Iraq was still capable of staging spectacular attacks despite a 50% drop in bombings and other violence in his region.
Army Maj. Gen. Mark Hertling said al-Qaeda in Iraq was being pushed north by the increased numbers of U.S. troops that went into Baghdad during the summer and fall. The insurgents are also being flushed out of Anbar province by "awakening councils" — groups of Sunni Arab tribesmen the U.S. military has backed to help fight al-Qaeda in Iraq and its allies.
"Many of them have transited our province" of Diyala, which has seen some of the worst violence in Iraq, Hertling said. "There are still some very bad things happening in that province, but we are continuing to pursue al-Qaeda so they don't find a safe haven anywhere."
He said al-Qaeda extremists could still carry out attacks against infrastructure projects such as bridges. "There are going to be continued spectacular attacks," he said when asked about the bombing of a bridge across the Mosul dam on Monday. The attack, carried out with a truck bomb, closed the bridge to vehicle traffic.
Built in the 1980s on the Tigris River, the dam made headlines in June after a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers report said potential erosion of its foundation could cause it to buckle under the water pressure, flooding Mosul and parts of Baghdad, 225 miles to the south.
"We have some intelligence that says it was part of a bigger plot. There is some intelligence that they may have wanted to cut off that side of the river to make safe havens," Hertling said. "There are some indications that they wanted to close that route because it is used by coalition forces."
He said that during an ongoing operation against insurgents and al-Qaeda in western Diyala province, military forces discovered weapons caches, a torture chamber with a bed that was wired to electrocute victims, and knives and swords covered in blood.
Violence in Iraq has abated in recent months, and the U.S. military has said it has dropped by as much as 60%-70% in some places.
In Baghdad, the death toll Wednesday was unusually low: One bullet-riddled body was found washed up along the Tigris River, while another man was killed by a roadside bomb.
Wednesday's drop may have been a result of the start of the Eid al-Adha holy celebration for Sunni Muslims in Iraq. Shiites, who also celebrate the day, will mark Eid on Friday.
Hertling said the four provinces under his command had seen a marked reduction of attacks by improvised explosive devices — also known as IEDs — such as roadside bombs. "We have seen a precipitous decline in IED operations," he said, adding that they had dropped by 50% from June, when there were 1,698 attacks, compared with 849 in November.
Even so, such bombings still plague the region, and Hertling's troops have been working to restore a major highway in western Mosul that has been closed because of IED attacks.
In other Iraq news:
Two U.S. soldiers who died in Iraq in February were killed by "friendly fire," according to a military investigation. Pvt. Matthew Zeimer, 18, and Spc. Alan McPeek, 20, were killed at an Army outpost in Ramadi on Feb. 2. The families of the two soldiers initially were told the men were killed by enemy fire.
In response to a Freedom of Information request by the Associated Press, the military released its subsequent probe. The families were told in March that the men may have been killed by comrades.
The investigation found that the two were killed by tank fire from a second Army outpost after insurgents engaged both outposts. The report said decisions and actions by the tank crews and their command "directly created the conditions which caused this accident, including deficiencies in training."