The U.S. military's new commander in Iraq acknowledged for the first time yesterday that American troops are engaged in a "classical guerrilla-type" war against remnants of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein's Baath Party and said Baathist attacks are growing in organization and sophistication.
The statements by Army Gen. John P. Abizaid, in his first Pentagon briefing since taking charge of the U.S. Central Command last week, were in sharp contrast with earlier statements by Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld.
Army Gen. John P. Abizaid, new leader of U.S. Central Command, discusses increasing morale problems in the 3rd Infantry Division at a news briefing.
(Larry Morris -- The Washington Post)
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Abizaid also addressed the growing morale problems in the 3rd Infantry Division. He said that soldiers quoted yesterday on ABC News' "Good Morning America" questioning their mission in Iraq and calling for Rumsfeld's resignation were wrong and could be disciplined.
"None of us that wear this uniform are free to say anything disparaging about the secretary of defense or the president of the United States. We're not free to do that. It's our professional code," he said.
One of the soldiers, a specialist, said, "If Donald Rumsfeld was here, I'd ask him for his resignation." Another private added, "I used to want to help these people, but now, I don't really care about them anymore."
Abizaid said he found it "very, very saddening as a professional soldier to hear that sort of thing." But he lauded the 3rd Infantry for fighting "magnificently during the war" and promised to bring its final two brigades home by September, acknowledging that plans for an earlier return had been put on hold because of concerns about the security situation in Iraq. He said it is "very, very important" for soldiers to "know when they're coming home," and he noted that his wife cried when his son's year-long deployment to South Korea was extended for three months.
From now on, he promised, all troops in Iraq will know what their "end dates" are.
In assessing the security situation in Iraq, Abizaid, 52, a Lebanese American who speaks fluent Arabic, expressed resolve and said improving conditions throughout the country are at odds with perceptions in Washington and reports in the Arab media.
"Look, war is a struggle of wills," he said. "You look at the Arab press, they say, 'We drove the Americans out of Beirut. We drove them out of Somalia. We'll drive them out of Baghdad.' And that's just not true. They are not driving us out of anywhere."
But at the same time, Abizaid offered an expansive and troubling assessment of conditions on the ground in Iraq. In addition to the guerrilla campaign being waged by the Baathists, he cited a resurgence of Ansar al-Islam, a fundamentalist group the State Department says is tied to al Qaeda, and the appearance of either al Qaeda or al Qaeda "look-alike" fighters on the battlefield.
The Baathist attacks, most troubling to U.S. forces, he said, are being staged by former mid-level Iraqi intelligence officials and Special Republican Guard personnel, who have organized cells at the regional level and demonstrated the ability to attack U.S. personnel with improvised explosives and tactical maneuvers.
These Iraqi forces, Abizaid said, "are conducting what I would describe as a classical guerrilla-type campaign against us. It's low-intensity conflict in our doctrinal terms, but it's war however you describe it."
Abizaid's remarks were in sharp contrast to those of Rumsfeld, his boss, who insisted from the same lectern 21/2 weeks ago that the U.S. military was not involved in a guerrilla war and who said as recently as Sunday on ABC News that the fighting in Iraq did not fit the definition of guerrilla war.
While Rumsfeld said that he did not have any good evidence that the Iraqi attacks were being coordinated at the regional level, Abizaid said yesterday that there is regional organization and that it is possible that these regional organizations could become connected throughout the country.
"The level of resistance, I'm not so sure that I would characterize it as escalating in terms of number of incidents," Abizaid told reporters. "But it is getting more organized, and it is learning. It is adapting, it is adapting to our tactics, techniques and procedures, and we've got to adapt to their tactics, techniques and procedures."
He hinted at a shift of emphasis, saying the focus on the size of the U.S. force in Iraq is misplaced as a measure of effectiveness against the Iraqi insurgents. "You all have to understand it's not a matter of boots per square [kilo]meter," he said. "Everybody wants to think that, but that's just not so. If I could do one thing as a commander right now, I would focus my intelligence like a laser on where the problem is, which is mid-level Baathist leaders."
Bringing the 3rd Infantry Division home by September, Abizaid said, will require creating a "rotational scheme" to be presented to Rumsfeld this week involving Army, Marine and multinational forces.
But there are few troops readily available to sustain a force of 148,000 in Iraq. The Army has 33 active-duty combat brigades. There are now 16 in Iraq, two in Afghanistan, two in South Korea and most of the rest are either committed to other missions or reconstituting, leaving just three brigades to send to Iraq as replacement forces.
The recruitment of multinational forces, a Defense Department official said, is also proving problematic. The Hungarians, for example, have offered to send a truck company to Iraq but have no trucks, the official said. "They contribute 133 drivers, but no trucks, or mechanics, or anything else," he added. "Either somebody else is going to donate trucks, or they're going to be driving ours."
Army units in line for deployment to Iraq, the official said, include a brigade of the 1st Infantry Division from Fort Riley, Kan., the Army's new Stryker Brigade from Fort Lewis, Wash., and a brigade from the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, N.C., which returned from Afghanistan six months ago.
The Army is also likely to activate two or more "enhanced" National Guard brigades by the beginning of next year for rotation to Iraq by March or April, the official said. "Every possible unit worldwide," he added, "is being considered for possible rotations in different mixes and matches. Nothing is untouchable."
