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| Iraq |
| State official sez sectarianism proves US has more to do in Iraq |
| 2006-03-04 |
| Days of bloodshed between religious sects in Iraq show that the United States still has work to do to achieve a new, broadly representative Iraqi government, a top State Department official said Friday. Sectarian attacks and reprisal killings that began with the bombing of a revered Shiite mosque are troubling, but do not necessarily portend further violence or civil war, James Jeffrey, senior adviser for Iraq to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, said in an Associated Press interview. "It indicates that the path to national reconciliation and the path to a national compact that we're striving so much for has a ways to go," Jeffrey said. "It means we better continue working and work harder on it." Jeffrey said that al-Qaeda leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is the "likely suspect" in the mosque bombing, although he said there is no clear evidence of that. He added that although neighboring Iran is trying to increase its political pull among Iraq's factions, "we see no specific line that leads you directly to Iran in any of what happened in the last week and a half." Earlier Friday, the top U.S. military commander in Iraq said the situation has improved but conceded a major new terrorist attack would threaten stability anew. "Now, it appears that the crisis has passed," Gen. George Casey said in a briefing from Baghdad with reporters at the Pentagon. "But we all should be clear: Iraqis remain under threat of terrorist attack by those who will stop at nothing to undermine the formation of the constitutionally elected government." He added, "I think it's safe to say that a major attack, particularly on a religious site, would have a significant impact on the situation here coming in the next couple of days." Casey said officials routinely hear about probable terrorist activity. He would not confirm reports that intelligence has picked up warnings that a high profile attack in Iraq is being planned by al-Qaeda. Casey said he still plans to make recommendations on troop withdrawals to the administration this spring. But he said Iraq's sectarian militias are a long-term problem for the government, and "there's no silver-bullet quick solution to it." During the violence sparked by the mosque attack, there were increased problems with private armed militias, particularly lapses by Iraqi security forces. Casey said that while Iraqi forces responded fairly well, there were several instances where militia members were allowed to pass through security checkpoints. "It will take a holistic effort to get at the militia issue," he said. "I do not believe that we will ultimately succeed until the Iraqi security forces, the police and the military, are the only ones in Iraq with guns." In the short-term, he said Iraqi forces must continue to try to integrate the militia into the security forces. "This incident and its aftermath has highlighted for the Iraqi government the need to deal with the militia issue in the very near future," said Casey. He called it "a difficult few days here in Iraq that came at a very sensitive time." |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |