Bush says Iraq crackdown vital for power handover

CRAWFORD/FALLUJA – American President George W. Bush said the US military’s crackdown against Sunni and Shi’ite Muslim guerrillas is vital for a planned handover of power to Iraqis on June 30.

A shaky truce broken by sporadic gunfire was in place between US Marines and Sunni guerrillas in Fallujah, some 50 km west of the Iraqi capital. Bush said US-led forces had acted against “lawlessness and gangs” in Iraq in the past week – the bloodiest period since the fall of Saddam Hussein a year ago – and vowed his plan to bring about a democratic country would go ahead.”You just can’t let… a small percentage of the Iraqi people decide the fate of everybody,” Bush told reporters at his Texas ranch.”Our job is to provide security for the Iraqi people so that a transition can take place.”Bush, seeking re-election in November with Iraq high on the agenda and opponents accusing him of leading the United States into a Vietnam-style quagmire, was due to hold his first formal news conference of the year yesterday to discuss the situation.US-led forces, who have been struggling for months to crush a Sunni insurgency in central Iraq, now face a Shi’ite revolt led by the radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr in the south.The US military said coalition forces had lost about 70 dead in this month’s fierce fighting and killed about 10 times that number of guerrillas.The coalition death toll compares to 89 troops killed in action in the three-week war that toppled Saddam.At least 474 US troops have died in combat since the war began in March last year.General John Abizaid, head of US Central Command, told a news conference he had asked the Pentagon for two more “strong and mobile” brigades to be sent to Iraq.Most of the some 145 000-strong US-led forces now in Iraq are American.Iraqi mediators said they had secured an extension until yesterday to the truce between US forces and Sunni guerrillas in Fallujah.Mohammed Qubaisi, of the Iraqi Islamic Party, said more talks were expected to try to cement the truce.But US Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt said the Marines were ready to “complete the destruction of enemy forces” in Fallujah unless the political negotiations produced results.The Marines attacked rebels in Fallujah last week in response to the murder and mutilation of four American private security guards ambushed in the town on March 31.Kimmitt had no word on civilian deaths.Rafa Hayad al-Issawi, director of Fallujah’s main hospital, said he believed more than 600 Iraqis had been killed in the town.The US military said it had deployed a “significant amount of combat power” to secure roads west and south of Baghdad.- Nampa-ReutersBush said US-led forces had acted against “lawlessness and gangs” in Iraq in the past week – the bloodiest period since the fall of Saddam Hussein a year ago – and vowed his plan to bring about a democratic country would go ahead.”You just can’t let… a small percentage of the Iraqi people decide the fate of everybody,” Bush told reporters at his Texas ranch.”Our job is to provide security for the Iraqi people so that a transition can take place.”Bush, seeking re-election in November with Iraq high on the agenda and opponents accusing him of leading the United States into a Vietnam-style quagmire, was due to hold his first formal news conference of the year yesterday to discuss the situation.US-led forces, who have been struggling for months to crush a Sunni insurgency in central Iraq, now face a Shi’ite revolt led by the radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr in the south.The US military said coalition forces had lost about 70 dead in this month’s fierce fighting and killed about 10 times that number of guerrillas.The coalition death toll compares to 89 troops killed in action in the three-week war that toppled Saddam.At least 474 US troops have died in combat since the war began in March last year.General John Abizaid, head of US Central Command, told a news conference he had asked the Pentagon for two more “strong and mobile” brigades to be sent to Iraq.Most of the some 145 000-strong US-led forces now in Iraq are American.Iraqi mediators said they had secured an extension until yesterday to the truce between US forces and Sunni guerrillas in Fallujah.Mohammed Qubaisi, of the Iraqi Islamic Party, said more talks were expected to try to cement the truce.But US Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt said the Marines were ready to “complete the destruction of enemy forces” in Fallujah unless the political negotiations produced results.The Marines attacked rebels in Fallujah last week in response to the murder and mutilation of four American private security guards ambushed in the town on March 31.Kimmitt had no word on civilian deaths.Rafa Hayad al-Issawi, director of Fallujah’s main hospital, said he believed more than 600 Iraqis had been killed in the town.The US military said it had deployed a “significant amount of combat power” to secure roads west and south of Baghdad.- Nampa-Reuters