Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Philadelphia Inquirer
March 15, 2009
By Sinan Salaheddin, Associated Press
BAGHDAD - Iraq's top security official called yesterday for a shift from major military operations to a "war of intelligence" to track down remaining extremist cells responsible for attacks such as those that killed 60 people in the last week in the Baghdad area.
Interior Minister Jawad al-Bolani also warned that his ministry had been forced to delay some of its plans to recruit more police due to cuts in the government's 2009 budget prompted by plummeting oil prices.
Bolani's call came after suicide bombers struck twice - last Sunday near the Baghdad police academy, and Tuesday in an attack targeting Sunni and Shiite sheikhs touring an outdoor market after a reconciliation meeting.
About 60 people were killed in the two attacks, which followed weeks of relative calm in the capital.
In an interview, Bolani said it appeared that al-Qaeda in Iraq was unleashing sleeper cells in a bid to reassert itself after being routed in recent U.S.-Iraqi military operations. He said the key to defeating the insurgents lay in better intelligence, not more wide-scale fighting.
"I do believe that launching major military operations against al-Qaeda is no longer needed and that there is a need to activate the intelligence side," Bolani said.
"There are some al-Qaeda sleeper cells who are refreshing their activities to prove that they are still able to conduct attacks," Bolani said. "The only challenges we are facing [from them] are the suicide bombers and car bombs."
Bolani appealed for more intelligence support from U.S.-led forces, although he noted that "Iraqis have acquired good experience over the past years."
An al-Qaeda front group claimed responsibility for the Sunday attack.
Iraqi forces also have evidence that hard-line Shiite militants are regrouping in Baghdad and some southern provinces such as Maysan and Basra, Bolani said.
He was referring to small but well-organized groups that split off from the movement led by Shiite firebrand cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. U.S. officials believe those groups are funded and trained by Iran. The Iranians have denied any links to Shiite extremists in Iraq.
The splinter "special groups" continued attacks against U.S.-led forces even after the anti-U.S. cleric declared a unilateral cease-fire in 2007 and then disbanded his Mahdi Army last year.
The two major factions are Asaib Ahl al-Haq, or League of the Righteous, and Kataeb Hezbollah.
"There are limited activities for these groups in Baghdad, Amarah, and Basra, but they are being monitored by the security forces, which conduct operations against them," he added without elaborating. Amarah is the provincial capital of Maysan.
The Interior Ministry had planned to attract more police recruits to increase its force of nearly 500,000 with the goal of establishing a police brigade in each province.
But Bolani said that those plans were on hold and that the ministry would focus instead on developing the forces it had and redeploying units to areas with the most need.
"We hope that by the middle of this year oil prices will increase to bring in funds to help us implement these plans," he said.
March 15, 2009
By Sinan Salaheddin, Associated Press
BAGHDAD - Iraq's top security official called yesterday for a shift from major military operations to a "war of intelligence" to track down remaining extremist cells responsible for attacks such as those that killed 60 people in the last week in the Baghdad area.
Interior Minister Jawad al-Bolani also warned that his ministry had been forced to delay some of its plans to recruit more police due to cuts in the government's 2009 budget prompted by plummeting oil prices.
Bolani's call came after suicide bombers struck twice - last Sunday near the Baghdad police academy, and Tuesday in an attack targeting Sunni and Shiite sheikhs touring an outdoor market after a reconciliation meeting.
About 60 people were killed in the two attacks, which followed weeks of relative calm in the capital.
In an interview, Bolani said it appeared that al-Qaeda in Iraq was unleashing sleeper cells in a bid to reassert itself after being routed in recent U.S.-Iraqi military operations. He said the key to defeating the insurgents lay in better intelligence, not more wide-scale fighting.
"I do believe that launching major military operations against al-Qaeda is no longer needed and that there is a need to activate the intelligence side," Bolani said.
"There are some al-Qaeda sleeper cells who are refreshing their activities to prove that they are still able to conduct attacks," Bolani said. "The only challenges we are facing [from them] are the suicide bombers and car bombs."
Bolani appealed for more intelligence support from U.S.-led forces, although he noted that "Iraqis have acquired good experience over the past years."
An al-Qaeda front group claimed responsibility for the Sunday attack.
Iraqi forces also have evidence that hard-line Shiite militants are regrouping in Baghdad and some southern provinces such as Maysan and Basra, Bolani said.
He was referring to small but well-organized groups that split off from the movement led by Shiite firebrand cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. U.S. officials believe those groups are funded and trained by Iran. The Iranians have denied any links to Shiite extremists in Iraq.
The splinter "special groups" continued attacks against U.S.-led forces even after the anti-U.S. cleric declared a unilateral cease-fire in 2007 and then disbanded his Mahdi Army last year.
The two major factions are Asaib Ahl al-Haq, or League of the Righteous, and Kataeb Hezbollah.
"There are limited activities for these groups in Baghdad, Amarah, and Basra, but they are being monitored by the security forces, which conduct operations against them," he added without elaborating. Amarah is the provincial capital of Maysan.
The Interior Ministry had planned to attract more police recruits to increase its force of nearly 500,000 with the goal of establishing a police brigade in each province.
But Bolani said that those plans were on hold and that the ministry would focus instead on developing the forces it had and redeploying units to areas with the most need.
"We hope that by the middle of this year oil prices will increase to bring in funds to help us implement these plans," he said.