By John Kifner and Edward Wong
New York Times
30 April 2004
FALLUJA, Iraq, April 30 — Marines withdrew today from most of the positions they had taken during the three-week siege of the incendiary city of Falluja as the American military began handing over control of security here to a former Iraqi general and up to 1,100 men under his command.
Marines abandoned buildings and bulldozed earthworks in the southern and western neighborhoods and took down concertina wire even as the former general, Jasim Muhammad Saleh, drove into town wearing his old olive-green uniform, with hundreds of residents cheering him along the streets in a hero's welcome. The new Iraqi militia will be called the Falluja Brigade.
Though the day was not punctuated by the explosions of laser-guided bombs heard so often this week, attacks on American soldiers continued. Two marines were killed and six were wounded when their patrol was attacked this morning by a suicide car bomb near Camp Falluja outside the city, said Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, a spokesman for the occupation forces. The attack came a day after eight American soldiers were killed by a suicide car bomb south of Baghdad.
Those deaths capped the bloodiest month for the American military during this war, with at least 128 soldiers killed in combat, nearly a quarter of the total killed in fighting since the start of the invasion last March, according to a count by The Associated Press. Hundreds or more Iraqi insurgents and civilians have died in battles this month as the American military has fought a two-front war against mostly Sunni Arab insurgents around Falluja, 35 miles west of Baghdad, and Shiite Arab militiamen in cities across the south.
The deaths on both sides have severely eroded American and Iraqi confidence in the campaign , and recent polls in the United States show rapidly growing support for a withdrawal of American troops.
In the southern holy city of Najaf, encircled by 2,500 American soldiers trying to hunt down Moktada al-Sadr, a rebel Shiite cleric, more than 1,000 people protested the Bush administration's decision to loosen a ban on former members of the ruling Baath Party taking part in the government. The protest was led by Sadr al-Din al-Kubanchi, a prominent Shiite cleric who last week denounced Mr. Sadr and his militia, the Mahdi Army. Black-clad members of that militia attended the rally this afternoon in a show of solidarity that could upset American plans.
American officials have been trying to persuade the Shiite establishment in Najaf to turn against the much-reviled Mr. Sadr, but those efforts could now be complicated by the possibility of the Shiites presenting a united front against the American administration's new policy on Baathists.
In a mosque in Kufa, five miles north of Najaf, Mr. Sadr told thousands of worshippers that the policy change "proves the Americans hate the Iraqi people" and vowed that he would stay true to the course of jihad, or holy struggle.
At the protest outside the golden-domed Shrine of Ali in Najaf, Mr. Kubanchi told his followers that "the cleansing of Baathists is an Iraqi issue; it's not an American issue." People in the cheering crowd included members of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, a prominent Shiite political party. During much of his rule, Saddam Hussein, a Sunni, oppressed the Shiites, who make up at least 60 percent of the population.
The handover of security responsibilities to an Iraqi military force in Falluja signals the start of the White House's policy rollback. The bloody siege of Falluja has become a rallying point for anti-American sentiments across the Middle East, and the Bush administration has desperately tried to avoid starting a full-scale invasion of the city by the Marines to root out an estimated 2,000 insurgents hiding in a warren of dusty, dun-colored buildings and alleyways.
The sudden reinstitution of General Saleh and a battalion of 600 to 1,100 former soldiers also marks a major correction of the decision last May by L. Paul Bremer III, the top civilian administrator in Iraq, to dissolve the Iraqi army. That move created a furor that feeds the insurgency to this day.
Marines are training the first battalion of the new Iraqi security force, military officials said. They will be assigned initially to checkpoints as most of the marines withdraw to the perimeter of Falluja. General John P. Abizaid, the commander of American forces in the Middle East, cautioned in a teleconference from Qatar that the entry of the Iraqi soldiers would not necessarily quell the insurgency anytime soon.
"We should be very careful in thinking that this effort to build this Iraqi capacity will necessarily calm down the situation in Falluja tonight or over the next several days," he said. "It's a step-by-step effort that will have to include a clear understanding of the security situation."
The major question surrounding the new move remains unanswered: Whether the Iraqi force will be willing or able to fight against the insurgents, including an estimated 200 foreign fighters among them. General Saleh is from Falluja, and most of the other officers are from the city or the surrounding area, said General Kimmitt. Tribal loyalties are by far the most powerful form of allegiance in Iraq, and it is questionable whether loyalty to the occupation forces or national interests can supercede that.
During the three-week revolt, many newly minted Iraqi policemen and members of the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps ran from insurgents or joined in the fight against the occupation.
Furthermore, if the Marines cede authority to the Falluja Brigade and withdraw from the city, then they could repeat the same mistake that critics say the 82nd Airborne made over the winter. That unit holed itself up in bases near Falluja rather than patrol the streets, giving responsibility to Iraqi security forces who ultimately proved sympathetic to the insurgents, critics say. It was members of the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps who lured four American security contractors to their deaths and mutilations on March 31.
In his teleconference, Mr. Abizaid declined to speak about the background of General Saleh and referred reporters to commanders in Baghdad. General Kimmitt, at an evening news conference in Baghdad, then said, "I don't know his background," and referred reporters to the Marines in Falluja, who are usually reluctant to give information to the news media.
Sheikh Ghazi Sami al-Abid, a wealthy tribal leader in Falluja, said in a telephone interview that General Saleh, a leader of the Mehemdi tribe, was a "good person."
"If the Americans leave Falluja and support him, he can control security in Falluja," the sheik said. "If not, then he will have problems."
General Saleh shook hands with marines at a southeastern entrance to Falluja today. Wearing a red beret and sporting a well-groomed moustache, he rode in a sedan through the streets of Falluja and visited tribal leaders in one of the city's largest mosques. Iraqi soldiers saluted him at various points, reminding some Iraqis watching the scenes on television of military ceremonies that took place under Mr. Hussein's rule.
The Marines, who have borne the brunt of the fighting on the coalition side of the three-week battle over Falluja, will continue to "maintain a presence in around Falluja" until the new Iraqi "battalion's units demonstrate a capability to man designated checkpoints and positions," General Kimmitt said.
"The coalition objectives remain unchanged — to eliminate armed groups, collect and positively control all heavy weapons and turn over foreign fighters and disarm anti-Iraqi insurgents in Falluja," General Kimmitt said in a Baghdad briefing. "We are certainly not withdrawing from Falluja," he added. "Nothing could be further from the truth. Some of the Marine forces are repositioning around Falluja."
In his briefing from Qatar, General Abizaid expressed a cautious optimism of a "possible breakthrough" in Falluja.
"The opportunity is to build an Iraqi security force from former elements of the army that will work under the command of coalition forces, that will be mentored and worked next to by coalition forces," General Abizaid said.
General Kimmitt emphasized that the Marines would retain authority over the new Iraqi unit.
"This battalion will be recruited largely from former soldiers of the Iraqi army," he said. "The battalion will function as a subordinate command under the operational control of the First Marine Expeditionary Force."
John Kifner reported from Falluja and Ed Wong reported from Baghdad for this article. Christine Hauser contributed reporting from Baghdad.
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Citation: John Kifner and Edward Wong, "U.S. Marines Cede Control of Falluja to Iraqi Troops," New York Times, 30 April 2004
Original URL: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/30/international/middleeast/30CND-IRAQ.html?ex=1127016000&en=ad4c91754eecdbcb&ei=5070&pagewanted=print&position=
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