NEWS FEATURE: Iraqis divided over results of US troop surge - dpa

Middle East News

By Kazem al-Akabi and Pakinam Amer
Sep 10, 2007, 14:57 GMT

Baghdad/Cairo - Debate over the achievements and shortcomings of the US troop surge plan has left Iraqis divided with many branding the strategy a failure.

US commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, and Ryan C Crocker, American ambassador to Iraq, were expected Monday to report to Congress about the progress made since US President George W Bush announced his revised Iraq strategy, in which he pledged in January to increase troop numbers by 20,000 soldiers.

The surge took place between February and June. In Baghdad, where a new security plan was enacted hand-in-hand with the increase in the number of troops last February, many Iraqis believed that the increased US presence would save the country from the horrors of civil war.

"The US presence stands as a barrier in the face of armed militias who want to provoke the country into civil war," says Tareq Ibrahim, a Baghdad-based engineer.

Others said that "independence" is the key to control the security situation but added that Iraq was torn between a continued military occupation and the subsequent loss of sovereignty, and a possible disintegration into total chaos if the US was to withdraw its troops.

"We have to depend on ourselves," says 23-year-old Wissam Mohamed."But how could our weaponless forces stand against armed militias?"

In oil-rich Kirkuk, a disputed northern territory shared between Kurds and Turkmen, a gamut of opinions accompanied the idea of possible US troop reduction or even withdrawal.

Abdullah Hamoud al-Rayashy, a local farmer, said that the US surge "did not create a tangible change."

"There's more terrorism, more arrests, kidnappings, deportation. The Bush administration has failed to change the government programme after Iraqi politicians proved their failure," he said.

A shop owner from Kirkuk, Aras Khorshid, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa that the US administration did not solve problems, but described the possibility of withdrawal or a reduction in the US presence as a "disaster for Iraq."

He believes that the Americans are playing a negative role in the arguments over who should control Kirkuk - Kurds or Sunni Arabs and Turkmen.

But a withdrawal could mean more infiltration and shelling at the borders by neighbouring Iran and Turkey, according to Khorshid. Turksand Iranians are wreaking havoc in the autonomous Kurdish region while the government doesn't act, he says.

The armies of both Turkey and Iran have been engaged in a conflict with around 7,000 Kurdish rebels who are entrenched in the mountainous frontier region in northern Iraq.

Villages in northern Iraq have been shelled as militants belonging to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), outlawed in Turkey, and theParty for Freedom and Life in Kurdistan (PJAK) from Iran, are constantly targeted.

"The Americans should exercise pressure (on the Iraqis) to overhaul the army and police sources," said Omar Ouji, a Turkman."Meanwhile, they should slowly and gradually decrease their presence."

Accusations of violence have been levelled at Iraqi police and army forces whose ranks are believed to be infiltrated by members of sectarian militias.

Security elements, which ideally act as a source of protection, bear allegiances to different political factions and are said to have contributed to fomenting violence.

Meanwhile, during the two-day hearing General Petraeus is expected to try and curtail major moves to cut the number of US troops in Iraq in the forthcoming months. Democratic lawmakers in Congress have been pushing for a timetable for the US forces' withdrawal as Bush and his backers continue to warn against premature cuts.

The architect of this year's so-called surge, Petraeus is suggesting that only one brigade, about 4,000 troops, could go back home in December without being replaced but that larger cuts should wait until recommendations on such adjustments are presented in March 2008, according to the New York Times on Monday.

His surge, which only reached full strength during the summer, has reportedly produced some improvements in security in parts of Iraq,especially in and around Baghdad where the US-backed Fard al-Qanoun (Law Enforcement) security plan was put into effect.

However, amid growing debate on the degree of success and failure in Iraq, the Democrats want statistics.

Bush hinted at the possibility of withdrawal during a recent trip to Anbar province.

"When we begin to draw down, it will be from a position of strength and success, not from fear and failure," the US president said.