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Pentagon says attacks on US forces decline due to offensive
Washington, Aug 08: Rather than alienating Iraqis, the US military`s offensive against former Ba`athists in Iraq has resulted in a decline in attacks on coalition forces over the past few weeks, senior pentagon officials have said here.
Washington, Aug 08: Rather than alienating Iraqis, the US military's offensive against former Ba'athists in Iraq has resulted in a decline in attacks on coalition forces over
the past few weeks, senior pentagon officials have said here.
The Pentagon's assessment appeared at odds with those of Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez, the commander of coalition ground forces, who told a leading American daily that he had decided to limit the scope of the raids because of growing signs they were alienating Iraqis.
Lawrence Di Rita, the Pentagon's acting spokesman and a close aide to US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, insisted that the shift in tactics merely reflected the increasing sophistication of US military operations.
"The notion is that in those cases where we have to conduct a more traditional raid, we will do so," he said. "In those cases where it is possible to act in a more sophisticated fashion, we will do that as well, either because we have better intelligence or because we understand the environment better," he said.
Both Di Rita and Lieutenant General Norton Schwartz, the operations director of the joint staff, said the aggressive raids and patrolling were having a positive impact on the security situation overall despite the ebb and flow of attacks. Yesterday, a car bomb killed 11 people at the Jordanian Embassy, a fierce gun battle erupted on a busy street in Baghdad, and two more US soldiers were killed late Wednesday in another Baghdad firefight. Bureau Report
Lawrence Di Rita, the Pentagon's acting spokesman and a close aide to US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, insisted that the shift in tactics merely reflected the increasing sophistication of US military operations.
"The notion is that in those cases where we have to conduct a more traditional raid, we will do so," he said. "In those cases where it is possible to act in a more sophisticated fashion, we will do that as well, either because we have better intelligence or because we understand the environment better," he said.
Both Di Rita and Lieutenant General Norton Schwartz, the operations director of the joint staff, said the aggressive raids and patrolling were having a positive impact on the security situation overall despite the ebb and flow of attacks. Yesterday, a car bomb killed 11 people at the Jordanian Embassy, a fierce gun battle erupted on a busy street in Baghdad, and two more US soldiers were killed late Wednesday in another Baghdad firefight. Bureau Report