US AND THEM: US, UN & Iraq, version 8.0

Friday, 16 December 2005, 19:44 GMT

Warning over Iraq troop pull-out

Regional elections in Iraq could trigger factional fighting in the south, potentially delaying a pull-out of UK troops, a commander has warned.

Brigadier Patrick Marriot said tensions meant a reduction in the number of troops was not feasible before April.

He added security risks to his soldiers were so high they spend the majority of their time on force protection.

His comments follow claims a successful general election in Iraq could bring forward the pull-out of UK troops.

Iraqis were voting on Thursday to elect their first full-term government since the US-led invasion in 2003.

Lt Gen Nick Houghton, Britain's most senior general, said a pull-out could begin "in the first half of next year", if security conditions allowed it.

He told BBC News the elections provided a "growing confidence that the process of transition can get under way".

'Worst case scenarios'

But on Friday the BBC's defence correspondent, Paul Wood, said Brigadier Marriot predicted an upsurge in Shia factional fighting next Spring, when provincial elections in the south are due to be held.

"We'll be in for a bumpy ride" he told reporters.

This would mean a reduction in the number of British troops would not be possible before April at the earliest.

Brigadier Marriot, commander of Seventh Armoured Brigade - also known as the Desert Rats - said that for coalition forces to leave the country now would involve considerable risk.

But he added there had been remarkable progress in the rebuilding of the Iraqi security forces, which would eventually make such a withdrawal possible.

He also told journalists in Basra terrorist attacks on his troops meant they spent 60% of their time engaged in force protection and only 40% carrying out the mission of training the Iraqi forces.

He said in hindsight, military planners had been too optimistic and should have been preparing for worst case scenarios.

Earlier this month, Defence Secretary John Reid told the BBC a pull-out beginning next year was a possibility.

But he added: "I've always said we will stay there until the job is done. The job will be done when we can achieve the handover to the Iraqi forces themselves. We are training them, they are becoming more capable and it's quite possible that in the course of the next year that's a process which could begin."

Hey, icant, don't forget to tell Bush it's only a compulsive fantasy. LOL

The starting point to understand Iran's role
...
promoting a degree of chaos but of a manageable kind (in order to generate protracted but controllable disorder); and investing in a wide array of diverse, often competing Iraqi actors (to minimise risks in any conceivable outcome).

Quote:

Friday, 16 December 2005, 19:44 GMT

Warning over Iraq troop pull-out

Regional elections in Iraq could trigger factional fighting in the south, potentially delaying a pull-out of UK troops, a commander has warned.

...

Earlier this month, Defence Secretary John Reid told the BBC a pull-out beginning next year was a possibility.

But he added: "I've always said we will stay there until the job is done. The job will be done when we can achieve the handover to the Iraqi forces themselves. We are training them, they are becoming more capable and it's quite possible that in the course of the next year that's a process which could begin."

source

Official: Iraq Freed Al-Zarqawi Last Year

By ROBERT H. REID, Associated Press Writer 49 minutes ago

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraqi security forces caught terror leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in the Fallujah area last year but released him because they didn't realize who he was, the deputy interior minister said in an interview broadcast Friday.

The deputy minister, Maj. Gen. Hussein Kamal, told the Lebanese Broadcasting Corp., that Iraqi police "suspected this man" and detained him "along with other members" of his group.

"Afterward, he was released because we did not know the identity of this criminal," Kamal told LBC. The station said the remarks were made Wednesday but were aired Friday.

"He was not armed," Kamal said. "He was like any other citizen who was suspected. There was a simple interrogation with him and he was released."

Kamal said the incident occurred "about a year ago, approximately." U.S. forces overran Fallujah in November 2004, ending domination of the city by insurgents and Islamic extremists, including al-Zarqawi's al-Qaida in
Iraq group.

Thousands of people were rounded up after the city fell. Most were interrogated and released.

CNN broadcast a similar report late Thursday, but it could not be confirmed. But a U.S. official said in Washington that American intelligence believed it was plausible. The official spoke on condition of anonymity in compliance with office policy.

There have been several reports of missed opportunities to capture al-Zarqawi, including an April 28 raid by U.S. forces acting on a tip from local informants that militants reportedly including the terror leader were hiding in a hospital in Ramadi.

Al-Qaida in Iraq and Iraqi officials also denied reports last month that al-Zarqawi was among those killed in a raid and gunfight in the northern city of Mosul.

Al-Zarqawi, who has claimed responsibility for several attacks in Iraq along with the kidnappings and beheadings of foreigners, has a $25 million bounty on his head.

He also drew criticism in his home country of Jordan after his insurgent group claimed responsibility for the deadly Nov. 9 attacks on hotels in Amman.

Jordan sentenced al-Zarqawi to death in absentia for planning a terror plot that led to the 2002 killing of U.S. aid worker Laurence Foley. He has claimed responsibility for several other plots in Jordan, including a foiled April 2004 chemical attack.

___

Associated Press writer Katherine Shrader in Washington and Sam Ghattas in Beirut, Lebanon, contributed to this report.

I was just watching the news and they had a horrible story in Husbaya, Iraq.

...

How many dead kids are worth it, Hawks? Specifically.

Cycloptichorn

ican, when you quote my responses with the prefix "Walter Hinteler wrote:", would you please post my quotes correctly and not chnage them.

Neither my quotation nor the quoted original source are similar to what you wrote there.

Thank you.

Jesus Christ.

That's the second time you've been caught doing that, Ican.

I mean, what the f*ck. Have some goddamn decency.

Cycloptichorn

In future, I shall do that again when I think it appropriate.

You are free to do the same with my quotes. I recall you have done that several times.

ican711nm wrote:

In future, I shall do that again when I think it appropriate.

You are free to do the same with my quotes. I recall you have done that several times.

a) show me one time, just one time when and where I changed a quote.

b) changing quotes is against the TOS and I will report this.

ican711nm wrote:

In future, I shall do that again when I think it appropriate.

You are free to do the same with my quotes. I recall you have done that several times.

a) show me one time, just one time when and where I changed a quote.

b) changing quotes is against the TOS and I will report this.

Walter Hinteler wrote:

ican, when you quote my responses with the prefix "Walter Hinteler wrote:", would you please post my quotes correctly and not chnage them.

Neither my quotation nor the quoted original source are similar to what you wrote there.

Thank you.

Oh yes they are similar. The only changes to your quoted words that I made were to enlarge certain ones and color them blue. Also, I excerpted from your quotes only those words which I believed were sufficient for helping readers accurately recall the essence of your quote. I think that is appropriate.

In future, I shall do that again when I think it appropriate.

You are free to do the same with my quotes. I recall you have done that several times.

Did I ask you?