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General war has not ended { May 30 2003 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/5975737.htmhttp://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/5975737.htm
Posted on Fri, May. 30, 2003
General: `The war has not ended'
U.S. LAUNCHES NEW DRIVE TO ROOT OUT CONTINUED ARMED RESISTANCE IN IRAQ
By Scott Wilson
Washington Post
BAGHDAD, Iraq - After an attack Thursday that left another U.S. soldier dead, the commanding general of U.S. ground forces in Iraq declared that ``the war has not ended'' and signaled the start of a new military push to root out what he described as die-hard supporters of Saddam Hussein.
Lt. Gen. David McKiernan said he was considering plans that would send troops from the 3rd Infantry Division, which fought its way into Baghdad on April 9, against an armed Iraqi resistance that has killed five U.S. soldiers this week. A U.S. soldier was killed Thursday morning on a highway north of Baghdad when a military convoy was attacked in a roadside ambush.
The division was relieved of its responsibility for Baghdad on Thursday and had been expecting to head home soon after. Instead, it was told earlier this week to expect at least two more months in Iraq, an extension that's likely to leave at least 160,000 U.S. and British soldiers in place through the time when U.S. officials hope to begin the delicate task of selecting a new, Iraqi-led interim government.
The attacks, conducted with small arms and rocket-propelled grenades in a country awash in them, are occurring in a crescent of towns northwest of Baghdad where the ruling Baath Party enjoyed great clout. McKiernan said he did not view the resistance as ``a new political movement in Iraq,'' but rather the guerrilla tactics of Saddam supporters seeking to undermine the 7-week-old U.S. occupation.
``These are not criminal activities, they are combat activities,'' McKiernan told a Thursday afternoon news conference. ``We're going to address those activities by applying every resource available to us. The war has not ended, that's a point I need you to understand.''
Elsewhere, Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair on Thursday made a quick stop in the southern city of Basra, which British troops seized in the war.
Blair, who came under fierce political attack at home for joining the American-led war, portrayed his visit to Basra not as a victory tour but as a tribute to British troops, especially those who died in the fight.
The armed resistance in Iraq is coalescing a month after President Bush declared victory and an end to major combat operations. It's rising on the frustrations of many Iraqis -- even those who welcomed the U.S. invasion -- after an uncertain start by U.S. officials in the enormous task of remaking the country.
In recent days, U.S. officials have made progress restoring many public services and security in much of the country, especially in the capital, whose populace of 5 million was hit hard by the war and the widespread looting that ensued. In recent days, electricity has returned to more of Baghdad and a fresh troop deployment has brought a greater sense of security.
But the delay in forming an interim Iraqi government, a key step toward the country's first experience in self-rule, has been a source of frustration and suspicion among many Iraqis who now are increasingly willing to view the United States as an occupying power. U.S. officials have portrayed the resistance as the work of former Saddam loyalists angry that the U.S. invasion has cost them privileged lives, but it at times has appeared to be a broader phenomenon that is growing among Iraq's various ethnic and religious groups who earlier celebrated the U.S. invasion for deposing Saddam.
Thursday, a group of Shiite clerics, a group oppressed for years by Saddam's Sunni-led government, marched in downtown Baghdad. In a small demonstration, they wore the white shrouds used in Muslim burial, and they chanted their willingness to die as part of a movement to drive out U.S. troops.
U.S. military officials said elements of the 3rd Infantry Division were already on their way to Al-Fallujah, a city 30 miles west of Baghdad where two U.S. soldiers were killed Tuesday in an attack.
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Mercury News wire services contributed to this report.
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