| ||
| ||
| ||
 |
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
U.S. expected car bombings in Iraq
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Fearing deadly car bomb attacks, U.S. forces in Iraq just weeks ago began erecting more barriers around potentially "softer" nonmilitary targets. But United Nations officials in Iraq decided on a lower level of security to provide a more welcoming image to Iraqis, American military officials said. Tuesday's attack on the U.N. headquarters in Baghdad and a car bombing outside the Jordanian Embassy two weeks ago show the difficulty in preventing such bombings, even when some security measures are in place. A cement truck filled with about 500 pounds of C4 military explosive detonated Tuesday just outside a newly built, 12-foot-high security wall around the U.N. compound. The wall was about 50 feet away from the U.N. building at the site of the blast. American military and civilian officials in Iraq warned repeatedly over the last two months that car bombings and other acts of terrorism were strong possibilities. As they have in other dangerous areas such as Afghanistan, American forces erected labyrinthine barriers around military and some civilian targets meant to slow down approaching vehicles and contain any explosions. Coalition forces also have trained dozens of Iraqis to work as security guards at sites such as electricity generation stations, water treatment plants and schools. Pentagon officials declined to discuss specific security measures, saying that talking about them would reduce their effectiveness. Tuesday's bombing, which killed the top U.N. official in Iraq and at least 16 others, forced a reassessment. "Obviously, the military and security people on the ground will be looking at all those questions, as will the U.N. security people," said State Department spokesman Richard Boucher. "It's important that people who are out there doing this important work, the people that are out there helping Iraqi people, have appropriate security." U.S. soldiers have seized tons of military explosives in raids on Iraqi opposition hideouts in the past two months. American commanders say they were worried that the forces attacking U.S. troops might turn to attacks on more vulnerable civilian targets. "They are going after softer targets because they know they are unsuccessful against military targets," Maj. Gen. Ray Odierno of the Army's 4th Infantry Division said July 25. "The next step, in my mind, would be something like car bombs and suicide bombers, and we have had some discussion and prepared for that." Vehicle barriers, checkpoints and armed guards are among the security measures at compounds housing American troops and the U.S.-led civilian administration in Baghdad. Some international aid organizations and the interim Iraqi governing council have offices inside the heavily guarded Coalition Provisional Authority compound in the Iraqi capital. Before the August 7 Jordanian Embassy blast, the U.S.-led civilian authority in Iraq warned other countries it could not guarantee the safety of diplomatic people or property. Policing Iraq is the responsibility of the U.S.-led military coalition occupying the country. U.S. officials say that while coalition troops and newly trained Iraqi police make hundreds of patrols daily, security remains elusive. About 32,000 Iraqi police are on the job, with more than 8,000 of them in Baghdad. Coalition authorities also are training Iraqis to provide security, civil defense and military forces.
U.S. officials say putting an Iraqi face on security is key to convincing Iraqis that terrorist attacks must be stopped. Pentagon officials said Tuesday it was too early to tell who was responsible for the U.N. bombing. Military officials have said that anti-American groups operating in Iraq include former members of Saddam Hussein's regime and Islamic extremist fighters from outside Iraq, including the al Qaeda-linked Ansar al-Islam terrorist group. Coalition forces destroyed an Ansar camp in northern Iraq in the early stages of the war, but American military officials say there's evidence Ansar was regrouping inside Iraq this summer. U.S. officials have said Ansar is a chief suspect in the Jordanian Embassy blast.
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
