Friday, Jul 18, 2003
Friday, Jul 18, 2003 |
| International | ||||
|
News:
Front Page |
National |
Southern States |
Other States |
International |
Opinion |
Business |
Sport |
Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary | International
By Sridhar Krishnaswami
The four-star General who is in charge of troops in Iraq has directly taken on his civilian boss, the Defence Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, who on Sunday maintained that what was taking place inside Iraq was not "anything like a guerilla war or an organised resistance." The Lebanese-American General, who speaks fluent Arabic, said the attacks on American forces were from the Ba'athists, from mid-level intelligence officials and former members of the Special Republican Guard units who are coming around with improvised explosives and techniques. According to Gen. Abizaid, these attacking forces "are conducting what I would describe as a classic guerilla-type campaign against us. It's low intensity conflict in our doctrinal terms, but it's war however you describe it." Mr. Rumsfeld, the hawk in this Republican administration, has consistently brushed aside any contention that what American forces are facing inside Iraq amounted to a guerilla warfare. But his top General on the field and heading the overall Central Command disagreed with the boss on even how organised the campaign against American troops is getting in Iraq. "The level of resistance, I'm not so sure that I would characterise it as escalating in terms of number of incidents. But it is getting more organised and it is learning. It is adapting. It is adapting to our tactics, techniques and procedures and we've got to adapt to their tactics, techniques and procedures," Gen. Abizaid said here. The General disputed the notion that somehow the situation could get better if additional troops deployed on the ground. "The focus on size as a measure of effectiveness is not correct. It's not a matter of boots per square kilometre. Everybody wants to think that, but that's just not so. If I could do one thing as a commander right now, I would focus my intelligence like a laser on where the problem is, which is mid-level Ba'athist leaders," Gen. Abizaid said. Currently there are about 150,000 American troops inside Iraq and the Bush administration is frantically looking for help from the outside. But many countries including France and India have said that the issue of sending troops could only arise if there was a clear and specific mandate from the United Nations Security Council. But the constant refrain here has been 19 countries already participating in the so-called stabilisation of Iraq. It is not just the guerilla type attacks that the American forces face inside Iraq but one aspect that has come in for some serious concern here is the sagging morale of the forces with soldiers openly questioning the civilian leaders. One of the soldiers in the Third Infantry Division not only questioned the mission in Iraq but called for the resignation of Mr. Rumsfeld. "If Donald Rumsfeld was here, I'd ask for his resignation," the soldier remarked. But the head of the Central Command, while taking note of the morale problems, also made it clear that indiscipline will not be tolerated suggesting that disciplinary action might be taken. "None of us that wear this uniform are free to say anything disparaging about the Secretary of Defence or the President of the United States. We're not free to do that. It's our professional code," Gen Abizaid said.
Printer friendly
page
News:
Front Page |
National |
Southern States |
Other States |
International |
Opinion |
Business |
Sport |
Miscellaneous |
|
|
|
The Hindu Group: Home | About Us | Copyright | Archives | Contacts | Subscription Group Sites: The Hindu | Business Line | The Sportstar | Frontline | The Hindu eBooks | Home |
Copyright © 2003, The
Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of
this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of
The Hindu
|
