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Show TheSalt Lake Tribune U.S.-IRAQ A6 Tuesday, November 18, 2003 U.S. forces continue assault against suspected insurgents Saddam aide hunted: Six alleged rebels die; militants claim the Nov. 2 copter downing By Jim GOMEZ The Associated Press TIKRIT, lraq U.S. forces attacked dozens of suspected guerrilla hideouts in Saddam Hussein's hometown, killing six alleged insurgents as troops pressed their search Monday for a former Saddam deputy believed to be orchestrating attacks on Americans. Military spokesman Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt said the U.S.-led coalition was intensifying its search for Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, No. 6 on the most-wantedlist of 55 Iraqis and former vice chairman of Saddam's Revolutionary Command Council. “We are getting intelligence now that he is directly involved in the killing of coalition soldiers,” Kimmitt said. Also Monday, an Iraqi militant group called Muhammad's Army claimed re sponsibility for the downing of a U.S. helicopter on Nov. 2 that killed 16 soldiers. The group warnedthatU.S. forces would face moreattacks if they did not leaveIraq in 15 days. There was no way to independently verify the claims. In a videotape broadcast by the Lebanese A] Hayat-LBC satellite channel, Muhammad’s Army also claimed responsibility for the assassination of a memberof the U.S.-backedIraq govern ment council and another attack on American troops. The groupis seeking to return Saddam to power and consists of several hundred former Iraqi intelligence and security services. A group with this nameis oneof several that claimedresponsibility for the Aug. 19 bombing of U.N. headquarters in Baghdad. Kimmitt said coalition forces had captured 99 suspected insurgents, including a former general in Saddam’s elite Republican Guard, during 1,729 patrols and 25 raids conducted Sunday and Monday. Last month, a senior U.S. defense official said al-Douri was believed to be helping coordinate attacks on American forces with members of Ansar al-Islam, an al-Qaida-linked terrorist group in the north. The information about alDouri’s role came from two captured members of Ansar al-Islam, said the official. Al-Douri was one of Saddam’s few longtime confidants and his daughter was married to Saddam's son, Odai, whowaskilled in a raidby U.S. forces in July. Shortly before the U.S.-led invasion began March 20, Saddam announced a reorganization ofIraq’s defenses, naming his son Qusai and other trusted aides to commandeach of four sectors across the country. Al-Douri was named commanderfor the northern sector. Tikrit, about 120 miles north of Baghdad, is part of a region north and west of Baghdad dominated by Sunni Muslims and regarded as a hotbed of anti-American sentiment. During Monday’s raids, U.S. forces fired a satellite-guided missile carrying a 500-pound warheadat a suspected insurgent sanctuary 10 miles south of Tikrit the second used in as many i Errem Lukatsky/TheAssociated Press AU.S. Army tank rofis through the center of Tikrit, north of Baghdad, on Monday. Saddam Hussein's hometown saw a coalition manhunt and attacks on rebel hideouts. daysof the powerful weapon amid a U.S. drive to intimidate the resistance. Hundredsof U.S. troops in tanks and assault vehicles marched through crowded downtown Tikrit Monday ina show offorce intended to deliver a stern warning. “They need to understand that it’s more than just Humvees that will be used against the resistance and we will crush the resistance,’ said Lt. Col. Steven Russell, a battalion commander in the 4th Infantry Division. U.S. forces carried out dozens of attacks from Sundaynight to early Monday, destroying 15 suspected safehouses, three training camps and 14 mortar firing points, said Lt. Col. William Mac- Donald, a spokesman ofthe 4th Infantry Division. Six suspected Saddam loyalists were killed and 21 arrested, he said. “Clearly, we’re sending the message that we do havethe ability to run operations across a wide area,” said MacDonald. Pace at which U.S.is arming Iraqis raises eyebrows in Congress By PAULINE JELINEK The Associated Press WASHINGTON Question ing Pentagon claims of progress in Iraq, members of Congress and others are asking how the U.S. military has been able to recruit, hire and train more than 60,000 new Iraqi security officers in just six weeks. The answer: by speeding up recruiting and pressing many of the officers into service with minimal training. The Pentagon announced months ago that it would accel erate the formation ofIraqi security forces to eventually take over from U.S. occupation troops, and officials now say there are more Iraqis in such jobs than there are American troops in the country. The positive side is that thousands of Iraqis are taking over guard and patrol duties, freeing Americans and other coalition forces for more diffi cult work such as hunting down insurgents, defense officials say. The downsideis that many of the Iraqis weren’t screened as well as Americanofficials would haveliked andare getting mini mal training in a worsening security environment. “In a perfect world, you'd have a year’s vetting process before you included anybody,” De fense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said recently. “Unfortunately, we're not in a perfect world. So what we dois we vet them to the best we can.” The speed-up means that Iragi police start work with three weeks of instruction instead of the eight that advisers recommended, The rest of the training is to follow. Guards watching electric plants and other infrastructure may simply be told whatto do andbe sent out with a dayorsoofinstructions, Americanofficials said. “Tt was a way of getting more people on the street doing things,” Rumsfeld said. The Pentagon has reported head-spinning progress in handing security responsibilities to Iraqis adding some 10,000 a week since the beginning of October. Officials reported 60,000 lraqis underarms on Oct. 1 then 100,000 by the end of October. A week later, officials said they had 18,000 more. And a week after that, an additional 13,000 bringing Iraqi security forces to 131,000 as of Wednesday, more than doublethe total of just six weeksearlier. It also is slightly more than the 130,000 Americansin Iraq. Noting that meteoric rise with skepticism, Republican Sen. John MeCain of Arizona said it sounded like someone was “cooking the books.” Democratic Sen. Joseph Biden warned that proper training of Iraqi forces was_ timeconsuming but essential. The security situation in Iraq calls fora “gang that can shoot straight,” Biden said. The American general overseeing the war acknowledges the lack of training. “These forces are not as welltrained as American and coalition forces yet,” Gen. John Abizaid, head of U.S. Central Command, said in a recent news conference. “So while you see that there’s more than 100,000 folks there workingside by side with the coalition, it’s also im- portant for all of us to understand that these Iraqi forces will take sometimeto train.” The 131,000 include more than 62,000 Iraqi police; 8,500 in civil defense; 12,200 border and customs officials; nearly 48,000 guards protecting public facilities and other infrastructure; recruiting.” Rumsfeld said officials are and 700 peoplein the first battal- aware of the risk of going too ion of the new army. “You add money. 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