*EPF302 04/23/2003
Coalition Ground Forces Working to Get Iraqi Utilities to Function
(U.S. general details coalition ground force's efforts in Iraq) (710)

By David Anthony Denny
Washington File Staff Writer

Washington -- Despite continuing combat operations in Iraq, U.S. and coalition forces are moving rapidly to focus on civil-military affairs and to restore basic services such as water and electricity to the Iraqi people, according to the U.S.land component commander.

Speaking April 23 via telephone from Baghdad to reporters at the Pentagon and in Kuwait city, Lieutenant General David McKiernan said the tactical situation in Iraq today "is in a blurred transition between combat operations and post-hostilities operations. We're still fighting pockets of resistance throughout Iraq, and we're still dealing with paramilitary forces.

"And we're still expanding the ground component battle space. ... But rapidly we are transitioning to a focus on civil-military operations and an effort to restore basic services to the Iraqi people that are either at or better than their pre-war standards," he said.

McKiernan refuted the perception that there had been a pause in combat operations, as was reported early in the campaign. "There never was a day, there never was a moment when there was not continuous pressure put on the regime of Saddam [Hussein] by one of [the coalition] components: air, ground, maritime, Special Forces and so on," he said.

Ground forces will leave Iraq, McKiernan said, "when the mission is complete. I won't decide." But when the mission is complete, "given what the president decides, the secretary of defense decides and what my boss decides, then we will remove forces," he added.

Asked to give details of remaining combat operations, McKiernan categorized three types of threats: pockets of continued regime resistance, for example, in the Tikrit area the evening of April 22; activity by paramilitaries, many of them not Iraqis; and suicide bombers.

Queried whether lootings of the Iraq central bank and antiquities museum occurred for tactical reasons, McKiernan said the "fundamental answer ... is that we had to fight our way into Baghdad. ... I can tell you from being here that those lead formations, both Marine and Army, that maneuvered into Baghdad, first of all were killing bad guys, and secondly were protecting Iraqi people. And so if some of the facilities became subject to looting over that period of time by Iraqis, I will tell you that our priority was to fight the enemy and to protect the Iraqi people."

Responding to the question of whether he had sufficient forces to work with, McKiernan answered that "there aren't enough soldiers or Marines to guard every street corner in Iraq, so there's some risk-taking in some areas. ... But I am satisfied that I have enough forces on the ground to execute the campaign very decisively to this point. And we have the additional forces we need for Phase 4 flowing in now."

Asked whether it was true that some Mobile Exploitation Teams (MET) tasked with searching for weapons of mass destruction (WMD) sites had been taken off that assignment and reassigned, McKiernan said that no, the MET under his command are still focused on WMD.

As to whether Iranian Shi'ites are trying to foment an uprising by Iraqi Shi'ites, McKiernan said, "Right now the Shi'a and any Iranian-influenced Shi'a actions are not an overt threat to coalition forces, but we're watching all these competing interests. And if the truth be known, there's probably a little bit of democracy in process right now."

Asked about coordinating military operations with U.S. civilian administrator Jay Garner's efforts to re-start civil administration in Iraq, he said "The priorities that I've set for my formation has to do with basic life-support services: turn the power on, get the water pressure up, work medical care, work the transportation systems, and get basic security and order back into the streets in all these urban areas so that businesses can start to flourish again, so people can come back to work. ... [Both civil and military elements] will work as a team. ... And at some point the weight of effort shifts from military to civil, and that's when I will partner up with [Garner] to make that happen as quickly as we can."

(The Washington File is a product of the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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