General downplays Iraq violence
 |  Abizaid: "People are optimistic about being able to conduct elections ... they're optimistic about the future." |
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 The U.S. works to ensure Iraqi elections go smoothly.
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 U.S. warplanes and tanks target insurgents in Falluja.
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BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The head of U.S. Central Command has given an upbeat assessment of the situation in Iraq, despite the deaths of 250 Iraqis and 29 U.S. military personnel in the last week.
General John Abizaid said Tuesday that progress on the ground belies the negative images of the war effort. He also asserted the new Iraqi military structure can accommodate some people who served during the Saddam Hussein era.
Comparing the Afghan experience to Iraq, Abizaid said the people are eager for the upcoming transitional national assembly elections in January.
"I do think there is a general lack of understanding in the United States as to how it's going," said Abizaid, interviewed by Baghdad Bureau Chief Jane Arraf at the 1st Infantry Division's Camp Warhorse near Baquba.
That the images on the screen are almost always negative images as opposed to the significant and positive steps that are taken.
"For example, today we met with the governor of Diyala province here and we met with the police chief of the province. Violence is down. We're moving forward economically. People are very optimistic about being able to conduct elections ... they're optimistic about the future."
The positive rhetoric echoes the words of interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi and U.S. President George W. Bush last week.
Both men were upbeat about holding elections despite an escalating insurgency that endangers polls being held in some parts of the country. Allawi indicated that things are going better in Iraq than the violence there and criticized media coverage.
But the facts on the ground also reflect what Barham Salih, a deputy prime minister, called "a terrorist onslaught, a tough situation. In my assessment, it may get tougher but it gets better."
An American security firm report obtained by The Washington Post says that since sovereignty was restored in late June, attacks have jumped more than 50 percent -- to about 70 daily.
Last week, CNN Correspondent Diana Muriel described how the violence in Iraq was hindering the reconstruction effort.
"There is very much a sense that no one is safe and everyone should be reviewing their security measures," she said. (Full story)
But Abizaid sees progress in bringing more Iraqis into the military fold. As for the Iraqis who served under Saddam, he compared it with Afghanistan.
"Just when you look in Afghanistan and you see the need to reconcile with mid- and lower level Taliban leadership and I believe people understand that there then we'll also see the same thing take place here.
"There's a difference between people that committed crimes against the people of Iraq and those people who are just trying to get through the day. I think there's a place and an opportunity for reconciliation."
But he said "there's no future" for reconciliation with people who've joined up with the Abu Musab al-Zarqawi terror network.
"I think what you'll see is more Iraqi army officers come forward and serve in the army and the National Guard you'll see them come forward first and most importantly with the blessing of the Iraqi government."
Abizaid was asked what can be done to deal with the escalating violence ahead of the January elections.
"There's an interest in having the elections. It's not unlike what we've seen in Afghanistan where for the first time ever we've got 10 million people registering to vote -- and despite pockets of violence people will move forward and have a vote."
He said "the confluence" of the U.S., Afghan and Iraqi elections "creates an opportunity for people to derail all the electoral process that they see out there to gain political advantage."
"Now I don't think that will work. I think there are more people interested in making things work than are interested in derailing the process. On the other hand, we're going to have to fight in both Afghanistan and Iraq to make sure the process does go forward," he said.
But Jordan's King Abdullah said in comments released Tuesday that only extremists would gain if Iraqi elections go ahead as planned in January.
In a text distributed in advance of an interview with the French daily newspaper Le Figaro, the king said "it appears to me impossible to organize indisputable elections in the chaos currently reigning in Iraq."
CNN Baghdad Bureau Chief Jane Arraf and Correspondents Brent Sadler and Diana Muriel contributed to this report.
