U.S. General Says Iraqi Rebels Getting Stronger

[Louis Proyect <lnp3@xxxxxxxxx>]

LA Times, Oct. 3, 2003
U.S. General Says Iraqi Rebels Getting Stronger

By Tyler Marshall, Times Staff Writer

BAGHDAD — In a week that has already seen five more U.S. combat deaths 
and the wounding of 41 soldiers, the commander of military forces in 
Iraq indicated Thursday that resistance to the occupying troops was 
strengthening and warned Americans to brace for more casualties.

With 313 American soldiers dead in the conflict so far, more than half 
since President Bush declared major combat over May 1, Army Lt. Gen. 
Ricardo Sanchez told reporters at a weekly news briefing here, "This is 
still wartime."

"There is still some intense fighting to be done, especially out in the 
west," he said. "We should not be surprised if one of these mornings we 
wake up and ... there has been a major firefight with some casualties or 
a significant terrorist attack that kills significant numbers of people."

Sanchez said the U.S.-led forces are engaging resistance groups 15 to 20 
times a day, on average, with as many as 25 incidents on some days. 
Military spokesmen have cited lower figures in the past.

The general added that the resistance was showing signs of improved 
organization. Though most attacks against U.S. forces are being carried 
out by small, locally based groups apparently acting on their own, there 
are indications that the resistance is beginning to operate under a 
broader, more regional control, Sanchez said.

A string of incidents Thursday, including gunfire and a land mine 
explosion in and near the troubled city of Fallouja, about 35 miles west 
of Baghdad, served as a reminder that resistance remained strong.

A spokesman at the U.S. military command headquarters in Baghdad said a 
vehicle in a convoy traveling west of Fallouja hit the mine. There were 
no American casualties, the spokesman said.

Hours earlier, U.S. forces in Fallouja exchanged small-arms fire with an 
Iraqi gunman outside the mayor's office, but the same spokesman said he 
had no reports of casualties, although Reuters and Associated Press 
reported that one Iraqi was killed and four others wounded.

Three uniformed Americans were killed in attacks Wednesday.

Sanchez stressed that U.S. forces were improving their ability to 
confront the resistance, a statement echoed Thursday in Washington by 
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and Air Force Gen. Richard B. 
Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who defended American 
progress in Iraq.

"While there is no question we have faced some challenges and we've got 
some ahead of us, we have really achieved numerous successes and expect 
the situation to continue to improve," Myers told reporters at a 
Pentagon news conference. "We're in this for the long haul and ... we'll 
get the job done."

full: http://www.latimes.com/

--

The Marxism list: www.marxmail.org



~~~~~~~
PLEASE clip all extraneous text before replying to a message.