BAGHDAD — U.S. officials here said Monday that the latest plan to calm war-addled Baghdad, where dozens more were killed or found dead in political violence during the day, will succeed because Iraqi politicians will come through this time.
Despite widespread doubts about the efficacy and loyalties of Iraq's Shiite-dominated government and armed forces, U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and Army Gen. George W. Casey Jr. said at a news briefing that American officials had put Iraqis at the helm of security operations. "We will support them, but the Iraqis will be in the lead," Khalilzad said.
U.S. officials have voiced frustration over the failure of the Iraqi government of Prime Minister Nouri Maliki to confront Shiite militias that have ties to political parties in the government. U.S. commanders say Iraqi officials forbid them from going after suspected gunmen in Shiite neighborhoods. Some voiced outrage when Maliki appointed a relative unknown, Lt. Gen. Abud Qanbar, to head the Baghdad security plan, passing over the Americans' choice for the post.
The new plan follows two efforts last year to quell the violence in the capital, which U.S. and Iraqi officials acknowledge have been failures. The number of civilian deaths spiraled upward as Shiite militias rampaged through Sunni neighborhoods and Sunni insurgents bombed Shiite marketplaces, police patrols and U.S. military convoys.
Khalilzad and Casey said the new plan had a greater chance of success because it was part of a broad strategy that includes billions in reconstruction spending, the controversial addition of 21,500 U.S. troops proposed by President Bush and confrontation with Iranian and Syrian elements that U.S. officials allege are sowing chaos in Iraq.
The plan also involves additional training of Iraqi security forces and a revamped command-and-control structure, which will have Qanbar at the helm. However, Casey said the American forces would take orders only from U.S. commanders.
"Our forces, frankly, will not be at greater risk, although the more forces you bring here, the greater the risk of casualties," he said. "But they won't be put at risk because of command relationships."
The plan is part of an effort by the White House to revamp its Iraq policy based on a new set of assumptions, according to public documents outlining the strategy.
