|
WASHINGTON D.C. (January 23, 2008) - The U.S. troop surge and
the contributions of improved Iraqi security forces and concerned
local citizens' groups have combined to tip the scales against al
Qaeda in Iraq and other insurgents, a senior U.S. military officer
said today.
The two-week-old Operation Phantom Phoenix that is pressuring
insurgents across Iraq is building on successful surge-enabled
offensives conducted in spring through the fall of 2007 in Anbar
province and Baghdad, Army Brig. Gen. Joseph Anderson, chief of
staff for Multinational Corps Iraq, told reporters during a
conference call.
"The surge forces were critical," Anderson said, noting the
additional 30,000 U.S. troops provided commanders "the ability to
hold ground."
As the surge took hold, al Qaeda in Iraq operatives and other
terrorists fled Baghdad into the Diyala River Valley and other
areas north of the Iraqi capital city, Anderson explained. This
exodus is borne out by the fact that about 60 percent of terrorist
attacks in Iraq now occur in the northern part of the country, he
noted.
Meanwhile, U.S. troops and Iraqi security forces and concerned
local citizens' groups, now totaling about 80,000 people across
Iraq, are keeping the pressure on insurgents, the general said.
"We will pursue al Qaeda and other extremists wherever they
attempt to take sanctuary," Anderson said.
U.S. and Iraqi forces are being positioned to areas "where they
are the most needed," he added.
"We will not give up" any ground taken from the insurgents,
Anderson vowed.
Iraqi soldiers and police "have matured and developed," Anderson
pointed out. The Iraqis, like their American counterparts, also are
holding onto ground they've seized from the insurgents. The Iraqis'
performance, the general said, "is allowing us to do Phantom
Phoenix."
The success of concerned local citizens' groups "has enabled us
to find numerous extremists, criminals, weapons and munitions
caches," Anderson said.
The increased use of unmanned and manned aerial reconnaissance
platforms has negatively impacted insurgents' attempts to launch
mortar attacks against Iraqi and coalition forces or emplace
roadside bombs, Anderson pointed out.
Consequently, the enemy "is much more aware that they don't have
freedom of maneuver to go out and do all of that stuff," the
general said.
Other operations being conducted across Iraq include forming an
Iraqi civil-service corps and providing micro-grants to stimulate
new businesses, Anderson said.
Phantom Phoenix is successfully taking the fight to the enemy,
Anderson said, noting the broad scope and multifaceted power of the
offensive is keeping the terrorists off balance and on the
defensive.
"The focus of the offensive appears (to be going in) the right
direction," the general said.
|
