Very Bad News, that does not bode well for the near future; which, of course, is why we are, in effect, starting the war all over again. This time with the light, moblie infantry troops needed to wage an urban street fight. I hate to say, I told you so, but I did.
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- There is no evidence that al-Qaida terrorists have taken part in the long string of attacks on U.S. or Iraqi targets, but some U.S.-trained Iraqi police appear to have coordinated some of those assaults, the top U.S. military official in Iraq said Saturday.
U.S. military officials are concerned that some attacks on Americans have been coordinated by a few of the numerous Iraqi civilians hired by the U.S. military, who may glean intelligence on troop movements and travels of high-ranking officers, Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez told reporters at the Baghdad Convention Center.
"Clearly those are concerns we have. We try to do the vetting (of Iraqi employees) as close as we can,'' he said. "There have been instances when police were coordinating attacks against the coalition and against the people.''
He said the insurgency was becoming particularly bloody for Iraqi civilians. Guerrillas launched more than 150 attacks on Iraqi civilian and police targets, killing scores during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which ended last week.
Sanchez also said the United States is boosting the number of infantrymen in Iraq and moving from a force based on tanks and heavy armored vehicles to one specializing in urban raids.
A new phase in the Iraq war, known as Iraqi Freedom II, would begin as current forces are rotated out of Iraq and replaced by new units, including several thousand U.S. Marines, Sanchez said.
"We are going to change the composition of our forces,'' Sanchez said. "We'll have more infantry. We're moving to a more mobile force, one that has the right blend of light and heavy.''
