BAGHDAD, Aug. 31, 2007
Iraq Leader Asks Militias To Take A Break
Al-Maliki Hopes Others Will Follow Example Of Al-Sadr's Mahdi Army; Pentagon Defends Progress
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A U.S soldier from the Delta 112 Cav. Battalion walks past a man as they do a house-to-house search near the city of Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, on Aug. 31, 2007. (AP Photo/Karel Prinsloo)
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Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, left, and President Jalal Talabani, right, attend a meeting at the foreign ministry in Baghdad on Aug. 18, 2007. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)
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U.S. soldiers escort blindfolded Iranians out of the Sheraton hotel, Baghdad, Aug. 28, 2007. (AP)
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Actress Angelina Jolie, left, goodwill ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, talks to an Iraqi woman at the Al Waleed refugee camp on Aug. 28, 2007. (AP)
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A pilgrim displays a poster of radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr during the march to Shiite holy city of Karbala, Iraq, Aug. 26, 2007. (AP)
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A statement by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's office welcomed Wednesday's decision by anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr to freeze attacks by his Mahdi militia for up to six months as a step toward "affirming security and stability."
The statement, issued late Thursday, said al-Sadr's move offered "a good chance" to "suspend the work of other militias" to restore "the integrity and sovereignty of Iraq."
Al-Sadr issued the order after his fighters were suspected of a role in this week's gunfights during a religious festival in Karbala that killed up to 51 people.
The two U.S. service members - a Marine and an Army soldier - were killed Wednesday in fighting in Anbar province, the Sunni Arab stronghold west of Baghdad, the military said.
That brings the total U.S. troop deaths in Iraq to at least 79 this month, one more than the July total, which was the lowest monthly figure this year.
The U.S. statement gave no further details.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Defense Department has defended its efforts to rid the Iraqi national police of sectarian bias and corruption, even as an independent review found the force too tainted to continue.
In a meeting with the top military leaders in a secure Pentagon conference room dubbed "the Tank," President Bush was expected to hear deep concerns Friday from leaders of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines about strains that are building on the force - and on troops' families - as a result of lengthy and repeated tours in Iraq.
Two independent assessments of the situation in Iraq already have been previewed this week - the latest finding that Iraq's national police are so corrupt and influenced by sectarianism that the corps should be scrapped and replaced with a smaller force.
An independent commission established by Congress to study Iraq's security forces will recommend starting over and reshaping the troubled 25,000-member police organization with a more elite force, a defense official said Friday. He said the report was more positive about progress being made by the Iraqi army.
The report from a commission headed by the former commander of U.S. troops in Europe, retired Gen. James Jones, is to be presented to Congress next week but Gates and other officials were briefed about it this week, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the report has not been publicly released.
Asked the Pentagon's view on this, press secretary Geoff Morrell said there already is a program under way to fix the problem of sectarian influence in the national police. He said he had not seen the Jones report.
"It should come as no surprise to anyone that there have been problems with sectarianism within the Iraqi national police force, and we have been working on it along with the Iraqi government for some time to fix that problem," Morrell said.
In other developments:
The apparent turnaround in Anbar is expected to figure prominently in September reports to Congress, where prominent Democrats and Republicans have called for a drawdown in U.S. forces here.
The reports, including one by Petraeus, are expected to point to some limited success in curbing violence but little progress toward political power-sharing agreements among Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds.
On Friday, al-Maliki said political leaders were close to finalizing a draft law providing for provincial elections, one of the 18 benchmarks set down by the U.S. Congress.
At a news conference Thursday, Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari insisted that Iraq has been making some headway in resolving political differences, despite defections by the main Sunni Arab bloc and a hard-line Shiite faction.
"The whole world is waiting anxiously to see what this report will indicate," Zebari said. "I personally believe that this report would not provide any magical solutions or provide any instant answers to the difficulties and challenges we are going through."
© MMVII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Add a Comment See all 15 Comments
- I''m listening to Ron Paul in Las Vegas --- That dude is calling it right..... Terrorism as we define it was created by us by our foreign policies of creating artificial borders & disposing of elected leaders in foregn countries for representing thier own people.... It goes back to WW 1 ---
--- Our good intentions of westernizing, nation or democracy building created the blow back we see today. - Reply to this comment
- CBS_Oliver,,, We could use black & white pictures to show the comparisons on how Hitler scared his people with the threat of Bolshevik, Jewish & Western terrorism & how this administration used them to scare our people.
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- The terrible truth and the awful tragedy is that Bush will not re-think his so-called strategy for Itaq -- all it is for him is a stop-gap that must hold till he leaves office on Jan 20, 2009. He doesn''t give a hoot about anyone other than himself and his "legacy" - our troops are in dire need in Iraq - tested beyond strength, without the needed supplies and without a political leadership. I don''t know how America will ever find it in themselves to foregive the Neocons for what they''ve done - it will take generations at the very least.
"These conclusions are in line with a recent National Intelligence Estimate that found that violence in Iraq remained high, terrorists could still mount formidable attacks and the country%u2019s leaders %u201Cremain unable to govern effectively.%u201D - Reply to this comment
- I count six mentions of al Qaeda!
It echoes in our minds.
All we need now are some black and white pictures of a menacing figurehead with dark eyebrows and black rag around his head.
He doesn''t even have to exist. Just make him up. He will be easier to kill at the right time that way! - Reply to this comment
- Just telling them to take a break will work!! Why didn''t they do that earlier?
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- Six months of no fighting, I guess we could bring our men and women home for at least a nice five month vacation before we send them back to he11.
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- Take A Break... you f''n upright walkin baboons with an attitude all over the planet need to take a break from alot of things. and not just in Iraq. Who are the good guys again? Might just be me? I aint purfekt, but holy jumpin talking monkeys, I could achive your evil if I lived a zillion years!
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- Sounds like a prelude to another "Tet Offensive"
I know of several Old Soldiers that post here that should agree with me on this. Pardon me while I seek cover. - Reply to this comment
- Al-Sadr issued the order after his fighters were suspected of a role in this week''s gunfights during a religious festival in Karbala that killed up to 51 people.
Should call him al-Slaughter. His creeps are all volunteer killers and tortures just like our creeps....eh? Humans are lower than pigs! - Reply to this comment
- "fighting against Sunni insurgents"
Yea, unarmed innocent women and children. - Reply to this comment
Ex-NBA ref Tim Donaghy 
