Top US leader denies troops getting bogged down

BAGHDAD – Despite a wave of attacks that killed eight US soldiers and seven Iraqis in the previous 24 hours, the coalition’s ground forces commander yesterday flatly denied that his troops were bogged down in Iraq.

“They were not complex engagements. They were IEDs (improvised explosive devices),” Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez told AFP, referring to a clutch of bombings and drive-by shootings across the war-shattered country on Saturday.Three US soldiers were killed when a car bomb exploded at a checkpoint in the western town of Khaldiyah hours after two US soldiers perished when their convoy was attacked by a home-made bomb north of Fallujah.And in the oil refinery town of Beiji, north of Baghdad, a US soldier died of wounds sustained in a rocket-propelled grenade attack on his vehicle.Two US pilots were also killed when their helicopter came down near the northern city of Kayyarah on Friday.Four Iraqi civilians were killed when a device exploded in the northern town of Samarra.Three policemen were killed in Mosul, Baghdad and Kirkuk.But asked whether he thought US troops were getting stuck in a quagmire as Iraq lurches towards a transitional national government in June, Sanchez said: “Absolutely not.Absolutely not.”I think what we’re seeing overall across the country is a reasonable decrease in the number of engagements,” he said on the sidelines of a US military ceremony in Baghdad.Nevertheless, he admitted there was no immediate end in sight to the continuing occupation of Iraq by coalition troops.”I think the coalition will be here for a period of time.If you asked me to put a year marker on that, I couldn’t do that at this point in time, but I think we’ll be here for a while”.Sanchez also sought to minimise the findings of an opinion poll released on Saturday in which a third of Iraqis said they fear sectarian violence as the most dangerous type of unrest that could befall the country.Describing the level of sectarian strife as “normal”, he said he was unconcerned about any increase in such violence “at this point”.Ethnic tensions have escalated as Sunni Muslim and Kurdish minorities watch apprehensively as the Shi’ite majority flexes its political muscle.Shi’ite leaders have been insisting on elections before the June 30 deadline for the handover of sovereignty which would reflect their demographic weight after being long repressed under Saddam Hussein.- Nampa-AFPThey were IEDs (improvised explosive devices),” Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez told AFP, referring to a clutch of bombings and drive-by shootings across the war-shattered country on Saturday. Three US soldiers were killed when a car bomb exploded at a checkpoint in the western town of Khaldiyah hours after two US soldiers perished when their convoy was attacked by a home-made bomb north of Fallujah. And in the oil refinery town of Beiji, north of Baghdad, a US soldier died of wounds sustained in a rocket-propelled grenade attack on his vehicle. Two US pilots were also killed when their helicopter came down near the northern city of Kayyarah on Friday. Four Iraqi civilians were killed when a device exploded in the northern town of Samarra. Three policemen were killed in Mosul, Baghdad and Kirkuk. But asked whether he thought US troops were getting stuck in a quagmire as Iraq lurches towards a transitional national government in June, Sanchez said: “Absolutely not. Absolutely not. “I think what we’re seeing overall across the country is a reasonable decrease in the number of engagements,” he said on the sidelines of a US military ceremony in Baghdad. Nevertheless, he admitted there was no immediate end in sight to the continuing occupation of Iraq by coalition troops. “I think the coalition will be here for a period of time. If you asked me to put a year marker on that, I couldn’t do that at this point in time, but I think we’ll be here for a while”. Sanchez also sought to minimise the findings of an opinion poll released on Saturday in which a third of Iraqis said they fear sectarian violence as the most dangerous type of unrest that could befall the country. Describing the level of sectarian strife as “normal”, he said he was unconcerned about any increase in such violence “at this point”. Ethnic tensions have escalated as Sunni Muslim and Kurdish minorities watch apprehensively as the Shi’ite majority flexes its political muscle. Shi’ite leaders have been insisting on elections before the June 30 deadline for the handover of sovereignty which would reflect their demographic weight after being long repressed under Saddam Hussein. – Nampa-AFP