NewsMine — war-on-terror — iraq — insurgency — 2005 — 05-jan-mar — Viewing Item

Iraq insurgents can conduct 60 strikes daily Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)    http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=7666210 http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=7666210 Iraq Insurgents Can Conduct 60 Strikes Daily -Pentagon Thu Feb 17, 2005 04:28 PM ET By Vicki Allen WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon has found that Iraqi insurgents can conduct up to 60 strikes a day and occasionally more, the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff said on Thursday. "We've tracked the number of attacks per day and what they can do is 50 to 60 attacks that they are able to conduct countrywide, with spikes. And that seems to be their capacity," Air Force Gen. Richard Myers told the Senate Armed Services Committee. Myers, who testified with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, characterized the insurgency fighting some 150,000 U.S. forces in Iraq as "a limited capacity." He said it was difficult to determine the number of insurgents in Iraq because "they don't have a central organization ... so as you pick up insurgents and you debrief them and you find what they have in their rooms and on their computers, you don't find the wiring diagram." Rumsfeld on Wednesday told a House of Representatives committee he did not "have a lot of confidence" in the CIA and Defense Intelligence Agency estimates on the number of insurgents, which are classified. Lawmakers have been pressing the Pentagon to provide more information on the type of insurgency U.S. forces have been fighting in Iraq since the U.S.-led March 2003 invasion. "Shouldn't the American people also know the size and shape and nature of the enemy that we're facing, since it's their sons and daughters who are going to serve?" Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain said. "It would be nice to have a hard number, but my fear is that the number would change from week to week," Rumsfeld responded. "They're not static. The numbers change," he said, declining to publicly answer lawmakers who asked him the numerical strength of the insurgency. Myers said he believed the number of "hard core" insurgents that "are going to have to be captured or killed" was a small percentage of the insurgency. Myers also told the committee that some Army reserve units are not at desirable readiness because of equipment shortages as some units leave their gear in Iraq. "It does create a shortage back here. And we know we have shortages we have to fill," Myers said. "So there'll be time when units are below the desired levels of readiness." He said the $82 billion emergency spending bill the Bush administration is seeking mostly for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan was "crucial" to filling the shortages. Myers also said he felt the administration's proposed increase in cash payments to families of U.S. forces killed in combat should be applied more broadly. "I think a death gratuity that applies to all service members is preferable to one that's targeted just to those that might be in a combat zone," Myers said. "You go where they send you. And it's happenstance that you're in a combat zone or you're at home.

012905b1_iraq_thevote 1 [jpg] 14 killed by car bomb outside shiite mosque { January 21 2005 } 17 die in iraq bombing 47 killed in suicide attack on mosul mosque { March 10 2005 } Anti war parent copes with marines death { March 21 2005 } Attack on mosque meant to create sectarian strife { January 21 2005 } Baghdad car bomb kills 14 iraqis at mosque Baghdad governor assassinated in street Car bomb kills 7 at wedding party Car bomb kills two soldiers one marine { March 26 2005 } Car bomb outside australian embassy kills two { January 19 2005 } Child with downs syndrome used in suicide attack Death toll rises to 1500 { March 3 2005 } Five killed in three baghdad car bombs General says insurgents probably downed british plane General warns of spectacular iraq plots for elections Insurgency proves tough to crack { January 26 2005 } Insurgents ambush iraqi police convoy after elections Insurgents attacks kill 33 around iraq Insurgents bomb polling places Insurgents killed about two dozen on election day { January 30 2005 } Insurgents land deadliest blow killing over 100 { February 28 2005 } Iraq insurgents can conduct 60 strikes daily Iraq insurgents increase explosive power Iraq says 80 militants killed in clash Iraqi insurgents blow top off historic momument { April 2 2005 } Iraqi police capture bombing mastermind Nine US troops killed in iraq { January 7 2005 } Nothern pipeline destroyed baghdad bomb kills two Rebels damage iraqi national treasure { April 1 2005 } Suicide bomber kills 15 at iraq police station { February 24 2005 } Two mosques bombed in baghdad Two suicide bombs kill 27 in iraq US bombs wrong house underreports civilian deaths US secret talks with insurgents in iraq { February 21 2005 } Files Listed: 35

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