By ERIC SCHMITT
WASHINGTON, Sept. 1 – A new series of major raids in northern Iraq against supporters of Saddam Hussein’s government and criminal operatives is the first wide-scale
use of a revamped American strategy in which troops carry out more precise attacks instead of broad sweeps, American commanders say.
In the last week, several hundred troops from the Army’s
Fourth Infantry Division, supported by tanks and
helicopters, have raided suspected guerrilla hideouts in a
swath of territory north of Baghdad. Military officials
have provided few details, citing continuing operations,
but at least seven Iraqis suspected of carrying out attacks
against American troops have been arrested.
The new approach reflects the views of senior commanders
that the American military’s large sweeps that sometimes
rounded up several hundred ordinary Iraqis were alienating
the public. At the same time, officials said, Iraqis are
providing more and better information about suspected
supporters of Mr. Hussein that has enabled the military to
plan raids that are better focused on specific targets.
“The main difference is the ability to focus more precisely
because of better intelligence,” said Col. Guy Shields, a
military spokesman in Baghdad. “Because of better
intelligence, we may know the exact house, rather than just
the block. That makes a big difference in the number of
people you inconvenience.”
The shift in tactics, which commanders began formulating
last month, reflects the military’s delicate balancing act
between maintaining the support of an Iraqi public that is
increasingly restless over the continuing disorder and slow
pace of restoring electrical power and water, and combating
Baathist Party operatives, foreign fighters, Islamic
militants and criminals.
With American commanders acknowledging that the presence of
140,000 United States troops has attracted foreign fighters
and terrorists from outside Iraq, developing accurate and
timely intelligence has become increasingly important to
the American-led occupation.
“Ultimately, the people who are going to be most effective
against the pockets of extremism, Baathist remnants and
other threats to internal security will be Iraqis, not
Americans,” Gen. John P. Abizaid, the commander of American
forces in Iraq, said in an interview on Thursday, the day
before a car bomb in Najaf killed more than 80 people. “The
vast majority of our operations are enabled by Iraqis.”
But Iraqis had complained that the big sweeps the military
had conducted as recently as mid-July were rounding up not
only Baathists and criminals, but also ordinary Iraqis. As
a result, General Abizaid and his top field commander, Lt.
Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez, decided that the larger operations
were becoming counterproductive. General Sanchez first
raised the idea of changing tactics during an interview
with The New York Times last month.
“We have to be as precise in our combat operations with
ground troops going into villages as we were in our combat
operations in the war with our precision-guided weapons,”
General Abizaid said. “We can’t be indiscriminate. We can’t
just round up people and then sort them out. It makes no
sense to conduct a military operation that creates more
enemies than friends.”
General Abizaid said developing better intelligence would
be discussed by top military and civilian planners in
Baghdad later this week in a major strategy session to
review Iraq policies. American officials are also trying to
accelerate the training of an Iraqi army, police force and
civil defense corps, in part so those forces can establish
ties to Iraqis who can provide additional tips.
“We’ll discuss all levels of security building within
Iraq,” General Abizaid, said, adding that a goal of this
week’s meeting would be to rethink the allies’ campaign
plan. “Though it’s not my mission to build intelligence
forces, it is my mission to achieve intelligence
breakthroughs.”
He denied reports that the American military or civilian
authorities were recruiting former agents of the Iraqi
intelligence service. “None of us are interested in having
the bad guys on our team,” he said.
General Abizaid, the head of the United States Central
Command, said American forces had to be careful that
intelligence provided by Iraqis was not simply to settle
old grievances. He acknowledged that in some cases, this
had happened and that American forces had made mistakes.
Commanders are using the new approach toward pinpointing
enemy forces in operations against suspected guerrillas
across the country. Two raids last week north of Baghdad
were the first large-scale missions to use the tactics,
commanders said.
“What we are doing is surgical strikes on more remote areas
where we have not had a very large or enduring military
presence,” Maj. Josslyn Aberle, a spokeswoman for the
Fourth Infantry Division, told reporters in Tikrit last
week.
In one raid near Baqubah, about 40 miles north of Baghdad,
elements of the Fourth Division focused on a network headed
by Lateef Hamed al-Kubaishata, a convicted murderer and
gangster known as Lateef. He escaped, Army officers said,
but 24 others were detained, including seven Iraqis wanted
in connection with attacks against American forces.
His gang had claimed responsibility for a bomb that
exploded outside police headquarters in Baqubah on Aug. 10,
killing one American military policeman, Army officers
said. Lateef is also accused of selling weapons, burning
down the Baqubah courthouse to destroy criminal records,
and killing a prostitute whom he accused of fraternizing
with United States troops.
“Their primary focus is probably criminal activity, but
they have attacked coalition forces through direct and
indirect means,” Col. David Hogg, commander of the Fourth
Division’s Second Brigade, told The Associated Press last
week. “As long as he is in place, we will not be able to
establish the conditions for the Iraqi police to establish
law and order in the area.”
Colonel Shields, the military spokesman, said troops were
increasingly using “cordon and knock” operations, in which
a home or building is surrounded by American troops who
then seek permission to enter accompanied by an Iraqi
representative, rather than just kicking down the door.
But the military will not hesitate to use major force when
necessary to bring down their foes. “When we have to be
hard,” General Abizaid said, “we’ll be hard.”
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Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company