Iraq takes military command
Pastor Dale Morgan
Friday September 8, 3:06 AM Reuters
*Iraq takes military command*
By Ibon Villelabeitia
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The United States formally handed over control of
Iraq's new military to Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's government on
Thursday just as rebels unleashed a fresh wave of deadly bomb attacks on
Iraqi security forces.
Washington has hailed the handover as a "gigantic" milestone towards
withdrawing 155,000 U.S.-led foreign troops from Iraq.
But it coincided with a flurry of violence as insurgents, including
three suicide bombers, targeted police across Baghdad in five separate
strikes that killed 14 people. Attacks on Iraqi forces are common, but
Thursday's barrage was notably intense.
Whether by coincidence or design, the bombs showed that despite the
transfer of military control, Maliki's forces have a fragile grip on the
capital and will depend on U.S. firepower as they struggle to battle
Sunni insurgents and communal bloodshed.
The Pentagon said there were now 145,000 American troops in Iraq, 18,000
more than in late July and the highest level since January, as
commanders mount a security crackdown in Baghdad.
Al Qaeda's leader in Iraq called for Muslims to unite against the
"enemy", according to an audiotape broadcast by Al Jazeera television:
"Our enemy has unified his ranks. Now is the time to unite," said the
man identified as Abu Ayyub al-Masri.
This week Iraqi and U.S. officials announced the capture in June of a
top al Qaeda figure who they said was Masri's deputy.
While Maliki was trumpeting a new army "free of sectarianism", Iraq's
sectarian faultlines were laid bare in parliament as lawmakers began
looking at federalism, a potentially explosive issue in the deeply
divided country.
Tempers frayed as several lawmakers from the Shi'ite Muslim majority
tried to force debate on a Shi'ite-proposed draft law that once dominant
minority Sunnis fear could break up the country and leave them with
little access to its oil wealth.
Maliki, a Shi'ite, is promoting "national reconciliation" and cracking
down on "sectarianism".
On Thursday his government closed the Baghdad bureau of the Al Arabiya
pan-Arab satellite news channel for a month.
Despite criticism from local and international media bodies, the
U.S.-backed government said it took the decision because the channel
failed to heed warnings about its coverage. Like its rival Al Jazeera,
which was barred from Iraq two years ago, Arabiya is run from the
Sunni-dominated Arabian peninsula.
EXECUTIONS
Maliki struck a defiant tone at the handover ceremony:
"This is the message I have for the terrorists -- we will see that you
get great punishment wherever you are. There is nothing for you but
prison and punishment," he said, a day after Iraq executed 27
"terrorists" convicted of murder and rape.
Since the U.S. occupying authority disbanded Saddam Hussein's army in
2003, the U.S. military has been training a new force for nearly two
years to take over security so that Washington can begin pulling out its
troops.
Iraqis remain dependent on the U.S. military for support to quell
violence that kills an estimated 100 people a day.
"Today is another important milestone, but we still have a way to go,"
General George Casey said after handing over control of Iraq's 8th Army
Division and the small navy and air force.
Nine other army divisions will be transferred in the coming months under
a timetable set by Maliki, U.S. officials say.
The ceremony had been originally scheduled for last week but was delayed
after a dispute over the wording of terms.
Casey has forecast Iraq will be in charge of its own security within
12-18 months, with "very little help" from U.S- led forces, dismissing
suggestions that a bloody battle last week was a setback to U.S. efforts
to stand up the Iraqi army.
But many Sunnis are suspicious of the Shi'ite-dominated army, which now
totals about 130,000 soldiers. Analysts say that could undermine the
army's effectiveness.
Maliki told the military and police on Thursday that they served Iraq,
not party or sectarian interests.
"There is a military discipline that you should follow. You have to
follow the chain of command," he said.