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.
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol yesterday declared emergency martial law, accusing the opposition of being “anti-state forces intent on overthrowing the regime” amid parliamentary wrangling over a budget bill. “To safeguard a liberal South Korea from the threats posed by North Korea’s communist forces and to eliminate anti-state elements plundering people’s freedom and happiness, I hereby declare emergency martial law,” Yoon said in a live televised address to the nation. “With no regard for the livelihoods of the people, the opposition party has paralysed governance solely for the sake of impeachments, special investigations, and shielding their leader from justice,” he
‘IMPORTANCE OF PEACE’: President Lai was welcomed by AIT Managing Director Ingrid Larson, Hawaii Governor Josh Green, Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi and others President William Lai (賴清德) was feted with red carpets, garlands of flowers and “alohas” as he began his two-day stopover in Hawaii on Saturday, part of a Pacific tour. Looking relaxed in a Hawaiian shirt, Lai flitted around the US island state, visiting the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, Hawaii’s leading museum of natural history and native Hawaiian culture, the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency and the USS Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbor. Lai was given the “red carpet treatment” on the tarmac of Honolulu’s international airport, his office said, adding that it was the first time a Taiwanese president had been given such
REGIONAL STABILITY: The arms sale to Taiwan is the 18th approved by US President Joe Biden’s administration and the sixth since William Lai was elected president on Jan. 13 The US government on Friday announced arms sales involving spare parts and support for F-16 fighter aircraft and follow-up support for Improved Mobile Subscriber Equipment (IMSE), at a total cost of US$387 million. It is the 18th arms sale approved by US President Joe Biden’s administration to Taiwan and the sixth since the nation’s presidential and legislative elections on Jan. 13. The Pentagon’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) said it delivered the required certification notifying the US Congress of the latest arms sale on Friday. The proposed arms sale is consistent with US law and policy as expressed in Public Law
The Mainland Affairs Council and lawmakers yesterday accused a visiting Chinese university student of denigrating Taiwan’s sovereignty by referring to the national baseball team that won a first-ever Premier12 title as “China, Taipei team” (中國台北隊). “We deeply regret the Chinese student’s words, that have hurt the feelings of Taiwanese... The Ma Ying-jeou Foundation, as the organizers, should remind group members not to use inappropriate words and behavior,” a council statement said. “We hope these young Chinese can accurately observe the true views of Taiwanese, which would be a positive development for interactions between young people on the two sides of the Taiwan
RSS