Abizaid Says Coalition Is Facing Guerrilla Warfare in Iraq
Says political success has led to increased violence
Coalition forces are facing a classic guerrilla-type warfare campaign being waged by Ba'athist remnants and some foreign
terrorist elements throughout Iraq, and are adapting their tactics in order to end the attacks, says General John
Abizaid, commander of the U.S. Central Command.
"We're fighting Ba-athist remnants ... that have organized at the regional level in cellular structure and are
conducting what I would describe as a classical guerrilla-type campaign against us," he told reporters at the Pentagon
July 16.
"We're seeing a cellular organization of six to eight people ... attacking us sometimes at times and places of their own
choosing. And other times we attack them at times and places of our choosing. They are receiving financial help from
probably regional-level leaders," he said.
Abizaid said there is also significant terrorist group activity in Iraq.
"Ansar al-Islam, which is a terrorist group that we hit very hard in the very opening stages in the war up in the area
of northern Iraq and northeast of Sulimaniyah ... is reforming and is presenting a threat to us." They could be
infiltrating through Iran, he added.
He also cited a threat from al-Qaeda or "al-Qaeda look-alikes" who are "making an opportunity to move against us."
But the primary resistance is from mid-level Ba-athist leaders, he said. "It is getting more organized, and it is
learning. It is adapting to our tactics, techniques and procedures, and we've got to adapt to their tactics, techniques
and procedures."
Abizaid said there are currently about 148,000 Americans and 13,000 coalition troops in Iraq, and "I believe that for
the next couple of weeks, at least, that that needs to be the size of the force." He added, however, that the force
structure must be continually re-evaluated.
He said the 3rd Infantry Division now in Iraq will "most likely" be replaced by Army units in the near future, but that
it may not be an exact swap of forces. "It could be that we take other types of forces because as the situation in Iraq
changes, we need different types of forces. And I wouldn't like to discuss specifically what those change capabilities
might be, but you can imagine that as we go into this phase of the conflict, we're just not going to sit around leaving
our tactical face unchanged."
Abizaid told a questioner that in order to keep the force structure stable until the security situation improves,
"year-long deployments are possible for certain units." He noted that the 1st Armored Division went to Bosnia for a
year. "So, we've done it before; we can do it again."
The most important goal, he said, "is causing the level of violence to go down so that governance can move forward. ...
And there will be an increase in violence as we achieve political success because the people that have a stake in
ensuring the defeat of the coalition realize that time is getting short as the Iraqi face becomes more and more
prevalent on the future of Iraq. And that's precisely what's going on now."