As the US pledged to hand power to Iraqis faster, the Pentagon said yesterday that did not mean pulling out troops before they crushed guerrillas who fight on, seven months after the fall of former president Saddam Hussein.
"There is no decision to pull out early. Indeed quite the contrary," Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said while the US occupying forces launched new "Iron Hammer" strikes on suspected resistance positions around Baghdad.
"We will stay there as long as necessary," he told troops in the Pacific.
PHOTO: REUTERS
He denied Washington and its allies were in trouble after a particularly bloody few weeks in Iraq and insisted they were winning, despite an increasing number of guerrilla attacks.
Arriving in Japan, which is suffering cold feet about sending troops to Iraq after a bomb killed 18 Italians on Wednesday, Rumsfeld met Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. He is also due in South Korea, which is reviewing its offer of troops.
Rumsfeld was expected to press Washington's case to its allies for help in stabilizing Iraq to relieve the military and financial burden on the US as President George W. Bush seeks re-election a year from now.
Opinion polls show declining support among American voters for the occupation and growing disillusionment about the way the March invasion has turned out. Bush said on Thursday he wanted to "encourage the Iraqis to assume more responsibility."
US officials have not spelled out how this will be done, saying Iraq administrator Paul Bremer would discuss details with the Iraqi Governing Council on his return to Baghdad after this week's urgent consultations in Washington.
Postwar attacks that have killed 156 US soldiers, along with suicide bombings like Wednesday's assault on an Italian military base, have prompted what US General John Abizaid calls a "sense of urgency" about military efforts in Iraq.
The US military disclosed that Abizaid, leading those efforts, was planning to move back to the Gulf state of Qatar from Central Command headquarters in Florida.
In a fresh guerrilla attack, a roadside blast wounded two American soldiers in southern Baghdad yesterday morning.
Heavy gunfire and explosions had echoed across Baghdad during the night as US forces pursued Operation Iron Hammer against suspected guerrilla targets for a second day.
US forces destroyed a former Republican Guard building they said resistance fighters used to launch attacks and struck more suspected mortar and rocket-launch sites.
A missile fired from a AC-130 Spectre gunship flattened part of the building, leaving a tangle of metal and debris.
"Our unit has been taking fire from this building for several days so that's why we attacked," a US officer on the scene said.
CSBC Corp, Taiwan (台灣國際造船) yesterday released the first video documenting the submerged sea trials of Taiwan’s indigenous defense submarine prototype, the Hai Kun (海鯤), or Narwhal, showing underwater navigation and the launch of countermeasures. The footage shows the vessel’s first dive, steering and control system tests, and the raising and lowering of the periscope and antenna masts. It offered a rare look at the progress in the submarine’s sea acceptance tests. The Hai Kun carried out its first shallow-water diving trial late last month and has since completed four submerged tests, CSBC said. The newly released video compiles images recorded from Jan. 29 to
DETERRENCE EFFORTS: Washington and partners hope demonstrations of force would convince Beijing that military action against Taiwan would carry high costs The US is considering using HMAS Stirling in Western Australia as a forward base to strengthen its naval posture in a potential conflict with China, particularly over Taiwan, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday. As part of its Indo-Pacific strategy, Washington plans to deploy up to four nuclear-powered submarines at Stirling starting in 2027, providing a base near potential hot spots such as Taiwan and the South China Sea. The move also aims to enhance military integration with Pacific allies under the Australia-UK-US trilateral security partnership, the report said. Currently, US submarines operate from Guam, but the island could
RESTRAINTS: Should China’s actions pose any threat to Taiwan’s security, economic or social systems, China would be excluded from major financial institutions, the bill says The US House of Representatives on Monday passed the PROTECT Taiwan Act, which states that Washington would exclude China from participating in major global financial organizations if its actions directly threaten Taiwan’s security. The bill, proposed by Republican Representative Frank Lucas, passed with 395 votes in favor and two against. It stipulates that if China’s actions pose any threat to Taiwan’s security, economic or social systems, the US would, “to the maximum extent practicable,” exclude Beijing from international financial institutions, including the G20, the Bank for International Settlements and the Financial Stability Board. The bill makes it clear that China must be prepared
Taiwanese trade negotiators told Washington that Taipei would not relocate 40 percent of its semiconductor production to the US, and that its most advanced technologies would remain in the nation, Vice Premier Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君) said on Sunday. “I told the US side very clearly — that’s impossible,” Cheng, who led the negotiation team, said in an interview that aired on Sunday night on Chinese Television System. Cheng was referring to remarks last month by US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, in which he said his goal was to bring 40 percent of Taiwan’s chip supply chain to the US Taiwan’s almost
RSS