Gates warns US plans to maintain presence in region 'for decades'
Sadr urges followers to oppose occupation forces
The US is ready to defend its interests in the Middle East for decades to come, even though the Iraq war has been tougher than expected, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Friday.
Radical Iraqi Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr urged his followers Friday to oppose occupying troops, raising the pressure on US-backed Iraqi forces conducting a security crackdown in Baghdad.
Gates was speaking at a ceremony where Admiral William Fallon was formally installed as the new head of US Central Command, putting him in charge of US forces in the Middle East and Central Asia.
Gates said the United States will continue to stand by its allies in the region.
The US is "dedicated to strengthening those commitments and defending our interests for the decades to come. And we will do all in our power to protect and defend our homeland," he said.
Fallon replaced General John Abizaid, who led Central Command since 2003 but is leaving as part of a reshuffling of Mideast military commanders by President George W. Bush.
Besides Iraq, Fallon will also oversee the war in Afghanistan, where the US and its allies expect a fresh Taliban offensive as the weather warms this spring.
In a possible setback for the Baghdad crackdown, a statement from Sadr that was read out at prayers in Sadr City Friday repeated his long-held opposition to the presence of US forces in Iraq, and appeared to respond to recent statements by US military officials who have said people in Sadr City were cooperating with them.
"I'm confident that you consider them [US forces] your enemies," said the statement carrying Sadr's seal, which was issued by his office in the holy city of Najaf as well as being read out to thousands of worshippers in Sadr City.
"I call upon you all to raise your voices all together and shout with one voice 'No, No, America,'" the statement said.
A Mehdi Army official said thousands of people demonstrated after prayers Friday to reject the establishment of a joint US-Iraqi security station in Sadr City. Television pictures showed at least hundreds of people.
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In another development, 10 prisoners who were being held at a British-run detention facility escaped after they swapped clothes and changed places with a group of men posing as visitors, the British military said Friday.
"This is a very regrettable situation and we are taking it very seriously," Major David Gell, a spokesman for the British military, said of the escape, which happened earlier in the week near the southern city of Basra.
In an attempt to boost efforts to impose security in Iraq, Gates approved the deployment of some 2,600 troops of the Army's 3rd Infantry Division 45 days earlier than planned, meaning that they will go to Iraq around May, Defense Department spokesman Bryan Whitman said Friday.
The approval will mean roughly 30,000 troops eventually will go to Baghdad and Anbar Province in the Bush administration's buildup to crack down on violence, Whitman said.
Two months ago, Bush ordered 21,500 additional American troops to Iraq to help calm the violence. He did not initially mention the support units that would also be needed.
In a separate development, British Coroner Andrew Walker ruled Friday that a US friendly fire air strike that killed a British soldier was "criminal," a scathing verdict in a case that has exposed rifts between the allies.
A US A-10 tankbuster attack plane killed Lance Corporal Matty Hull by firing on his convoy near Basra in the first week of the 2003 invasion, after the American pilots mistook the British convoy for Iraqis.
"The attack on the convoy amounted to an assault. It was unlawful because there was no lawful reason for it and in that respect it was criminal," said.
He said the planes were not in danger and the incident could not be justified as self-defense.
The US Defense Department reaffirmed Friday its finding that Hull's death in a "friendly fire" attack in Iraq was "a tragic accident."
Original article posted here.
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2 comments:
Not one comment on the entire board. Are you happy now?
If you had joined in conversation and been much more friendly, people might congregate here.
But you have rolled over and played dead.
Your pattern of repeatedly beating the same dead horses is old.
You used to be extremely funny and now you have no humor on display.
Well, I've tried to be friendly. And not tried to "roll over and play dead."
And yes, the topics are somewhat familiar.
But I would love to "engage" more, but other than ktony, not too many people have tried to discuss things. (And I shouldn't overlook the occasional Duck.)
And by the way, Soc, when I've tried to engage with you, you've gone missing.
I would love to be "funny" but you have to try to lighten up the place as well.
Remember, this is your site, too.
But the truth is that quite a lot of people do check the site on a regular basis, but you're right: they don't post.
Maybe you can lead by example.
Carry on.
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