Los Angeles Times
September 24, 2004
BAGHDAD — Large swaths of Iraq remain outside the control of the interim
government, major highways are fraught with attackers, and interim Prime
Minister Iyad Allawi — along with the U.S. Embassy and much of the
international community — must conduct business in fortified compounds
guarded by tanks, blast walls and barbed wire.
In Washington, Allawi
gave Congress an upbeat assessment Thursday, but the situation in Iraq is more
complicated.
Allawi said the Iraqi people were making steady progress
in taking control of the nation's affairs. His interim government had assumed
sovereignty from the U.S.-led occupation. It had reopened schools and
hospitals damaged in the war. Despite attacks, hundreds of Iraqis were still
volunteering to join the police and army. And he pledged that the country
would hold elections in January.
Widespread anxiety engulfed much of
Iraq this month as a wave of car bombings, kidnappings and gun battles killed
scores of American soldiers, Iraqi civilians and hostages.
The
continuing violence has overshadowed signs of progress and put a damper on the
prospect of democratic elections.
"How can we hold elections when they
will bomb every polling booth?" asked Husham Mahdi, a 29-year-old
communications engineer in Baghdad, echoing a common sentiment.
In a
question and answer session after his speech to Congress, Allawi described
Baghdad as "very good and safe."
In the city of Samarra, Allawi noted,
a new police chief had been appointed and Iraqi forces were patrolling the city
"in close coordination" with the U.S.-led coalition. But U.S. commanders say
the insurgent stronghold, which the Army recently entered for the first time in
months, remains far from pacified.
"Samarra is not over with," said Lt.
Col. James Stockmoe, intelligence officer with the 1st Infantry Division,
which patrols Samarra.
The police chief appointed this month, at
least the 12th since Saddam Hussein's ouster, resigned within a few days after
receiving death threats.
Some U.S. military officials fear that the
city's police force is largely in cahoots with insurgents, giving them access
to weapons and vehicles. In July, a suicide bomber used a police vehicle to
plow into the Army base outside Samarra, killing five U.S. soldiers and
injuring 18.
Allawi blamed the American media for failing to report
some of the positive steps his government had taken with the help of the
U.S.-led coalition. He cited social programs such as polio vaccinations and
other efforts. He said thousands of Iraqis had gotten jobs, salaries had
increased dramatically and the economy "has finally started to
flourish."
Allawi praised efforts to train more soldiers and police and
said the performance of the new Iraqi security forces was "improving every
day."
U.S. commanders credit Iraqi forces for helping to rid Najaf
of fighters loyal to radical cleric Muqtada Sadr. But it remains questionable
whether they can take on insurgents wit hout U.S. help. Shortages of
equipment and personnel continue to plague the forces.
On a recent
visit to Baqubah, where police have often been targeted, Army Lt. Gen. David
H. Petraeus — who is overseeing the training of Iraqi forces —
listened as local police and national guard officers said they desperately
needed more trained officers and equipment. His visit came a few days after 11
provincial police officers were killed in a drive-by attack.
"We've got
to create a training academy here," said Petraeus, who also offered to ship new
armored vehicles, body armor and other gear from Baghdad.
The
continued inability of Iraqi forces to secure areas after U.S. offensives has
been a major reason such operations have been put on hold in places like
Samarra and Fallouja.
"We have got the tactical ability to do just
about anything, but what I don't want to do is create a vacuum," Lt. Gen.
Thomas F. Metz, operational chief for U.S.-led multinational forces, said in a
rece nt interview.
Allawi said that in the city of Tall Afar, in
northwestern Iraq, the interim government had "reversed" an attempted insurgent
takeover.
Reports from the city indicate that masked rebels no longer
control the town. But the city's Turkmen majority, regarded a U.S. ally, is
resentful after what it views as excessive American force and bombing, which
was approved by Allawi's government.
Allawi also cited "success" in
Najaf and Kufa, where residents celebrated the ouster of Sadr, the militant
cleric.
Although the militia was routed in both cities, many fighters
appear to have moved to Baghdad's Sadr City neighborhood. Daily firefights and
roadside bombs have plagued the U.S. there.
Allawi said it was "a
fact" that elections could be held in 15 of Iraq's 18 provinces "tomorrow."
But few experts would agree. The consensus among poll-watchers is that holding
nationwide elections by January, as scheduled, will be difficult.
Apart
from the widespread violen ce, the provinces lack electoral infrastructure
— which some view as a greater challenge than security.
And
critics say it is hard to argue that security is a problem in only three
provinces of a nation where suicide bombers have struck from Basra in the south
to Irbil in the north.
Allawi cited the renovation of schools and
clinics and the restoration of many services as signs of progress. But many
Iraqis note that the schools were open before Hussein's ouster, and power
blackouts and gasoline shortages remain major irritants.
Allawi's
upbeat assessment did not mention a core problem — the disenfranchisement
of the Sunni Muslim minority.
Sunni Muslims, who lost their preferred
status after Hussein's defeat, launched the insurgency that has managed to hold
off the world's most powerful military.
"They are the key to the
population here," said Col. John C. Coleman, chief of staff of the 1st Marine
Expeditionary Force, which patrols the Sunni heartland to th e west and north
of Baghdad. "Many of them look to the central government not as their
advocate…. There are many who would just like a seat at the table and
don't quite understand how to get there just yet. They are frustrated by the
process."
Allawi's overtures to the residents of Samarra, Fallouja and
Ramadi — Sunni-dominated cities still far from government control —
have yielded no lasting breakthroughs.
In his speech Thursday, the
interim prime minister did not highlight Fallouja, which has become a sanctuary
for insurgents and the target of intense U.S. bombings supported by his
government. City leaders who have met with representatives of the interim
government say it has lost credibility because of close U.S. ties.
"There were some promises made," said Ahmad Hardan, a physician from Fallouja
who has been in talks with Allawi's envoys. "But we started to realize that
whenever our delegation would go back to Baghdad, the city of Fallouja would be
bombed. And we would start asking, 'Why is this happening? Where are the
promises?' "