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US unleashes new push to root out pro-Saddam loyalists in Iraq
Baghdad, June 16: US armor fanned out across the tense Iraqi town of Fallujah west of Baghdad yesterday on a new mission to win the hearts and minds of a community rife with resentment and hostility toward western `saviours`.
Baghdad, June 16: US armor fanned out across the tense Iraqi town of Fallujah west of Baghdad yesterday on a new mission to win the hearts and minds of a community rife
with resentment and hostility toward western "saviours”.
Residents used to lying low during the huge search
operations which have followed repeated deadly attacks on US
troops, watched on warily as teams of army engineers poured
out of the convoys trundling down their narrow streets to
renovate schools, clear rubbish, and build soccer pitches.
In Washington, a top advisor to Secretary of State Colin Powell said the establishment of a democratic government in Iraq could take years, and would not resemble those of the United States or Britain but would be "Iraqi”.
"I think we should be talking in terms of several years at a minimum," said Richard Haass, director of policy planning at the State Department.
The Iraqi changeover from virtual dictatorship to democracy won't come overnight, Haass told. "There will be a gradual transition or evolution to a more open Iraq," he said.
Meanwhile, US forces intensified their battle against pro-Saddam Hussein loyalists and armed resistance in Iraq, as thousands of Iraqi protestors demanded self-rule in the British-run southern city of Basra.
The US military unleashed a new operation code-named desert scorpion against forces loyal to the ousted former president in northern Iraq, a coalition spokesman said.
Bureau Report
In Washington, a top advisor to Secretary of State Colin Powell said the establishment of a democratic government in Iraq could take years, and would not resemble those of the United States or Britain but would be "Iraqi”.
"I think we should be talking in terms of several years at a minimum," said Richard Haass, director of policy planning at the State Department.
The Iraqi changeover from virtual dictatorship to democracy won't come overnight, Haass told. "There will be a gradual transition or evolution to a more open Iraq," he said.
Meanwhile, US forces intensified their battle against pro-Saddam Hussein loyalists and armed resistance in Iraq, as thousands of Iraqi protestors demanded self-rule in the British-run southern city of Basra.
The US military unleashed a new operation code-named desert scorpion against forces loyal to the ousted former president in northern Iraq, a coalition spokesman said.
Bureau Report