BAGHDAD: Iraq’s defense minister said that his country would need foreign military help to defend its borders for another 10 years and would not be able to maintain internal security until 2012.
“According to our calculations and our timelines, we think that from the first quarter of 2009 until 2012 we will be able to take full control of the internal affairs of the country, “Qadir said.
“In regard to the borders, regarding protection from any external threats, our calculation appears that we are not going to be able to answer to any external threats until 2018 to 2020,” he said.
Qadir is currently visiting the United States for weapons acquisitions for the new, U.S.-trained Iraqi army. According to the report, these included ground vehicles, helicopters, tanks, artillery and armored personnel carriers.

BAGHDAD – U.S. bombers and jet fighters unleashed 40,000 pounds of explosives during a 10-minute airstrike Thursday, flattening what the military called al-Qaida in Iraq safe havens on the southern outskirts of the capital.

The strikes, carried out above approaching troops, was part of Operation Phantom Phoenix, a nationwide campaign launched Tuesday against al-Qaida in Iraq.

A military statement said two B-1 bombers and four F-16 fighters dropped the bombs on 40 targets in Arab Jabour in 10 strikes. Al-Qaida fighters are believed to control Arab Jabour, a Sunni district lined with citrus groves and scarred by daily violence.

Thirty-eight bombs were dropped within the first 10 minutes, with a total

tonnage of 40,000 pounds,” the statement said.

The attack came a day after the U.S. military reported that nine American soldiers were killed north of the capital in the first two days of a new offensive.

Fleeing militants
Many militants have fled U.S. and Iraqi forces massing north of Baghdad in Diyala province. Like Arab Jabour, Diyala is an agricultural area of palm and citrus groves that has defied the trend toward lower violence.

The campaign’s scope is nationwide but is mainly focused on gaining control of Diyala and its most important city, Baqouba, which al-Qaida has declared the capital of its self-styled Islamic caliphate.

Six soldiers were killed and four were wounded Wednesday in a booby-trapped house in Diyala, the U.S. command said. It also announced that three U.S. soldiers were killed and two wounded in an attack Tuesday in Salahuddin province, north of Diyala.

The toll marked some of the deadliest days for U.S. forces in Iraq since last fall. For all December, 23 U.S. soldiers died in Iraq

Having been ejected from Baghdad and its environs during the surge of forces, al Qaeda in Iraq is attempting to re-establish itself in regions north of the capital city, a senior U.S. military officer posted in Iraq said today.

Yet, while al Qaeda scrambles to reorganize itself, the terrorist group is being pressured by a triple threat consisting of coalition and Iraqi security forces and local concerned citizens’ groups, Army Maj. Gen. Kevin J. Bergner, a spokesman for Multinational Force Iraq, told reporters at a Baghdad news conference.

Army Maj. Gen. Mark P. Hertling, commander of Multinational Division North, believes that some al Qaeda operatives who fled Baghdad are moving into his area of responsibility, Bergner said.

“We have to continue to pursue this enemy to prevent them from re-establishing themselves or creating new bases of operation,” Bergner said.

Meanwhile, the 70,000 members of Iraqi concerned citizens’ groups that have sworn to fight al Qaeda have proven to be powerful allies, Bergner said, as the capabilities and numbers of Iraqi soldiers and police continue to grow.

“The emergence of concerned local citizens has been driven by and focused on providing security at the local level in places where other forces were not capable of doing it,” Bergner explained. “At the same time that that’s happening, the capability of other forces to provide security, particularly Iraqi security forces, is growing.”

Iraqi security capabilities will be further augmented when some members of the concerned citizens groups join Iraqi army or police units, Bergner said.

Through this process, Iraqi soldiers and police will be able to assume more and more responsibility for security in their country, Bergner said.

Much progress also has been achieved on the Iraqi governmental front, said Phillip T. Reeker, Baghdad counselor for public affairs, who accompanied Bergner at the news conference.

Yet, “a lot more needs to be done” in the political realm, Reeker said, noting Iraq’s leaders “need to take advantage of the space created through the surge” to achieve more national political progress.

Meanwhile, Multinational Division North and its Iraqi partners continue efforts “to pursue al Qaeda, to prevent them from establishing safe havens and operating bases,” Bergner reported.

More tough fighting lies ahead against terrorists in Iraq, Bergner predicted, noting yesterday’s bombing north of Baghdad demonstrates the terrorists’ desire to stage spectacular, brutal attacks in efforts to derail the Iraqi government. The Beiji bombing killed more than 20 people, including some guards at a housing area for oil industry workers and a number of women and children, according to news reports.

“This attack is further evidence of the nature of al Qaeda, their use of indiscriminate violence and their corrupt ideology that targets those who are protecting Iraq,” Bergner said. “We will work closely with Iraqi authorities to help them enforce the rule of law and bring the perpetrators to justice.”

At least 17 suspected Al-Qaeda gunmen were killed in clashes overnight with Iraqi and US troops west of the restive city of Baquba, a police officer said on Thursday.
Captain Ahmed Mahmud from Baquba said the battle, which also involved local anti-Qaeda front members supporting the security forces, took place in the town of Al-Hashmiyat in the restive province of Diyala.
“The operation was conducted from Wednesday evening up to Thursday morning and resulted in the killing of 17 Al-Qaeda gunmen. Four Iraqi soldiers and two members of the local Awakening group were also wounded,” Mahmud said.