Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
New York Times
November 3, 2007 By Michael R. Gordon
WASHINGTON, Nov. 2 — The Bush administration has singled out Anbar Province as an example of what can be accomplished in Iraq when local citizens join forces with the American military to fight insurgents. Attacks have declined sharply in the province, and American officials have looked for ways to replicate those gains in other contested regions of Iraq.
But on Friday, a delegation of officials from Anbar talked about a lingering problem that is hampering efforts to build on the gains there: limited support for the predominantly Sunni region from the Shiite-dominated government in Baghdad.
“The support received by the provincial government is insufficient,” said Abdulsalaam A. Mohammed, the head of the Anbar Provincial Council.
The problem partly reflects the bureaucratic and often dysfunctional nature of the Iraqi government in Baghdad. But American and Iraqi officials note that it also stems from sectarian agendas in the Iraqi capital.
“Some of this shortcoming is not intentional,” Mr. Mohammed said. “But we believe in some cases that there are certain forces within the government — ministers and going down the chain — that are interfering and not responding to the needs.”
The funds the province received from the Iraq government, he said, are less than half of what the region needs in 2007. Another problem, he said, was limited support for efforts to expand the provincial police forces.
Anbar officials want to increase the provincial police force, which currently numbers almost 21,000, by about 9,000. Instead, Iraq’s Ministry of Interior, which is less enthusiastic about plans to organize and train large numbers of Sunni police officers, has approved a plan to expand the provincial force by about 4,000, American officials say. Nor has the police force been provided with enough weapons, vehicles or communication equipment.
“One of the big problems is lack of support for the Anbar police in comparison with other provinces,” Mr. Mohammed said.
Members of the delegation, who spoke to reporters here on Friday after meeting with President Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice this week, included Mamoon Sami Rashid, the governor of Anbar Province; Sheik Ahmed Abu Risha, the brother of the Anbar tribal leader who was assassinated in September; Latif Obeid Ayada, the mayor of Ramadi, the provincial capital; and Mr. Mohammed.
The Anbar delegation met Tuesday with Mr. Bush and Stephen J. Hadley, his national security adviser. According to Mr. Rashid, Mr. Bush asked during the session how the security improvements in the province might be duplicated in other areas of Iraq.
Mr. Rashid said that the sheiks in Anbar had been in communication with tribal leaders in southern Iraq, including Shiite tribes, which he said would be willing to combat Shiite militias and insurgents from Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, a predominantly Iraqi extremist group that American intelligence agencies say is foreign-led.
Mr. Rashid said Mr. Bush said that the American government would support reconstruction in Anbar if Congress approved financing and would also press the Iraqi authorities in Baghdad to do more.
One concern the delegation raised was proposals by American lawmakers and commentators to partition Iraq or to structure the country as a very loose federation.
“We have spoken with Mr. Bush about rejecting partition of Iraq and also rejecting any federalism that is based on sectarianism or ethnic divides,” Mr. Rashid said. “He agreed with us on this point.”
Anbar, which includes much of Iraq’s western desert, is a region with little in the way of resources. Iraq’s oil fields are concentrated in the southern and northern ends of the country, and Sunnis fear that a partition would cut them out.
But Mr. Rashid cited other factors as well, including fears that the division of Iraq would prompt foreign governments to interfere there. “If Iran is intervening now in a united Iraq, what do you think would happen if there was one Shiite section that was aligned with Iran?” he said.
Mr. Rashid said there would be a time when the Americans could reduce their troops. “As for now, it would be a major disaster if American forces withdrew from the province and from Iraq,” he added.
Despite the security gains in Anbar there were clashes in the province on Friday near Rutba, a town near the Jordanian border. They began when five suicide bombers wearing explosive belts attacked the house of Qasim al-Marie, the town’s mayor, and began shooting at his guards. Three of the suicide bombers detonated their charges during the clashes while the other two fled, according to a police officer in the town.
Three airmen were killed while performing combat operations near Balad Air Base, the military announced Friday. The three men were killed Thursday. All three were assigned to the Air Force Office of Special Investigations. Balad is in Diyala Province, one of the most turbulent areas in Iraq and an area where American soldiers are still in a hard fight with militants from Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia.
Alissa J. Rubin contributed reporting from Baghdad.
November 3, 2007 By Michael R. Gordon
WASHINGTON, Nov. 2 — The Bush administration has singled out Anbar Province as an example of what can be accomplished in Iraq when local citizens join forces with the American military to fight insurgents. Attacks have declined sharply in the province, and American officials have looked for ways to replicate those gains in other contested regions of Iraq.
But on Friday, a delegation of officials from Anbar talked about a lingering problem that is hampering efforts to build on the gains there: limited support for the predominantly Sunni region from the Shiite-dominated government in Baghdad.
“The support received by the provincial government is insufficient,” said Abdulsalaam A. Mohammed, the head of the Anbar Provincial Council.
The problem partly reflects the bureaucratic and often dysfunctional nature of the Iraqi government in Baghdad. But American and Iraqi officials note that it also stems from sectarian agendas in the Iraqi capital.
“Some of this shortcoming is not intentional,” Mr. Mohammed said. “But we believe in some cases that there are certain forces within the government — ministers and going down the chain — that are interfering and not responding to the needs.”
The funds the province received from the Iraq government, he said, are less than half of what the region needs in 2007. Another problem, he said, was limited support for efforts to expand the provincial police forces.
Anbar officials want to increase the provincial police force, which currently numbers almost 21,000, by about 9,000. Instead, Iraq’s Ministry of Interior, which is less enthusiastic about plans to organize and train large numbers of Sunni police officers, has approved a plan to expand the provincial force by about 4,000, American officials say. Nor has the police force been provided with enough weapons, vehicles or communication equipment.
“One of the big problems is lack of support for the Anbar police in comparison with other provinces,” Mr. Mohammed said.
Members of the delegation, who spoke to reporters here on Friday after meeting with President Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice this week, included Mamoon Sami Rashid, the governor of Anbar Province; Sheik Ahmed Abu Risha, the brother of the Anbar tribal leader who was assassinated in September; Latif Obeid Ayada, the mayor of Ramadi, the provincial capital; and Mr. Mohammed.
The Anbar delegation met Tuesday with Mr. Bush and Stephen J. Hadley, his national security adviser. According to Mr. Rashid, Mr. Bush asked during the session how the security improvements in the province might be duplicated in other areas of Iraq.
Mr. Rashid said that the sheiks in Anbar had been in communication with tribal leaders in southern Iraq, including Shiite tribes, which he said would be willing to combat Shiite militias and insurgents from Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, a predominantly Iraqi extremist group that American intelligence agencies say is foreign-led.
Mr. Rashid said Mr. Bush said that the American government would support reconstruction in Anbar if Congress approved financing and would also press the Iraqi authorities in Baghdad to do more.
One concern the delegation raised was proposals by American lawmakers and commentators to partition Iraq or to structure the country as a very loose federation.
“We have spoken with Mr. Bush about rejecting partition of Iraq and also rejecting any federalism that is based on sectarianism or ethnic divides,” Mr. Rashid said. “He agreed with us on this point.”
Anbar, which includes much of Iraq’s western desert, is a region with little in the way of resources. Iraq’s oil fields are concentrated in the southern and northern ends of the country, and Sunnis fear that a partition would cut them out.
But Mr. Rashid cited other factors as well, including fears that the division of Iraq would prompt foreign governments to interfere there. “If Iran is intervening now in a united Iraq, what do you think would happen if there was one Shiite section that was aligned with Iran?” he said.
Mr. Rashid said there would be a time when the Americans could reduce their troops. “As for now, it would be a major disaster if American forces withdrew from the province and from Iraq,” he added.
Despite the security gains in Anbar there were clashes in the province on Friday near Rutba, a town near the Jordanian border. They began when five suicide bombers wearing explosive belts attacked the house of Qasim al-Marie, the town’s mayor, and began shooting at his guards. Three of the suicide bombers detonated their charges during the clashes while the other two fled, according to a police officer in the town.
Three airmen were killed while performing combat operations near Balad Air Base, the military announced Friday. The three men were killed Thursday. All three were assigned to the Air Force Office of Special Investigations. Balad is in Diyala Province, one of the most turbulent areas in Iraq and an area where American soldiers are still in a hard fight with militants from Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia.
Alissa J. Rubin contributed reporting from Baghdad.