Effort in Iraq ‘going to take time’

  • Published
  • By Jim Garamone
  • American Forces Press Service
MANAMA, Bahrain (AFPN) --  People worldwide have to realize the coalition effort in Iraq is a long-term project, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said here April 13.

Gen. Richard B. Myers is here for meetings with Bahraini leaders. During the flight over, he said the problems in Iraq can be solved, but it will take time.

"We've been there just a year," General Myers told reporters traveling with him. "We've got a country that lived for decades under a dictator that ruled by fear. The thought that you are going to turn that around in a year, or two years, is not reasonable. It's going to take a lot longer than that."

General Myers said coalition forces found a country with a dilapidated infrastructure, a failing economic structure and a political vacuum. On top of those problems, he said, some Iraqis do not want the country to be free and democratic.

"That's what you're seeing now," he said.

He said coalition forces are making great progress on all fronts. Electricity generation is above prewar levels, Iraq's oil is flowing to market, children are being educated, and the health system is being bulked up.

"On any front, we're making great progress," he said.

Yet there are people who do not want to see Iraq succeed, the chairman said, and they "want to throw a rock into these gears to stop it from happening."

The prime rock thrower is Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian national affiliated with al-Qaida. The chairman said Mr. Zarqawi would like to incite a civil war in Iraq. "And he is frustrated, because despite all the attacks on the (United Nations), the Red Cross and others, there still is the march (toward) sovereignty and democracy in Iraq," he said.

"I don't think a civil war will come from the Iraqi people," General Myers said. If such a war were to happen, it would be the work of "agitators, like (Mr.) Zarqawi, who see this as a fundamental fight for (their) views."

The path to a free, democratic Iraq will be bumpy, General Myers said. The key is to ensure everyone in the country, including those favored by Saddam Hussein, has a stake in the new Iraq.

General Myers said coalition forces will stick to the strategy of moving security missions to Iraqi forces. He said the recent fighting showed the Iraqi security forces were "uneven," but added that elements of the Iraqi army, the Iraqi civil defense corps and the Iraqi police have done well.

"There are other elements that have not done as well," he said. "I don't think it (means) that they don't want to be part of a free Iraq. I think it speaks to the other issue, which is making sure they have clear guidance from Iraqis on what it is they are supposed to be about."

General Myers said the Iraqi forces need to have guidance and orders from an Iraqi political leadership.

"We haven't completed that chain of command yet," he said. "Iraqis have to have their own chain of command to know they are moving forward and working for a greater Iraq."

Coalition forces also must beef up training for Iraqi security forces and get them the right equipment, Myers said.

"There is no indication that the Iraqis are not willing to fight and die for a better Iraq. They have," he said.

The chairman said the disturbances caused by Muqtada al-Sadr have worked against the radical Shiia cleric.

"This doesn't have any of the trappings of a popular uprising," General Myers said. "(Mr. Sadr's) actions have further marginalized him. The Shiia are not homogeneous, and his following was not large to begin with, and there is nothing at this point to point to an uprising in the south."

The chairman said coalition leaders took advantage of the ongoing troop rotation from the United States to place units where they will do the most good. Some 1st Armored Division units, for example, moved to quell the disturbances in the south.

The United States now has 134,000 troops in Iraq. Some troops scheduled to go home will stay in Iraq longer, the chairman said, adding that defense leaders are working through this and an announcement will be made at the Pentagon soon.

About 40,000 U.S. troops are still in Iraq from the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Not all will be held, he said.

The chairman said he believes the troops affected by the decision understand that "the security situation has changed, and we have to make adjustments."