US-trained Iraqi troops taking over Georgian base
Iraqi security forces are taking over checkpoints near the Iranian border previously manned by Georgian troops before they redeployed home following recent fighting with Russia, the U.S. military said Friday. Iraq
Shiite pilgrims, meanwhile, faced more violence as they headed toward the holy city of Karbala for a major religious festival.
A roadside bomb struck a minibus beginning the trip in eastern Baghdad Friday morning, killing at least one passenger and wounding 10 others, a police official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to release the information.
The attack came a day after a female suicide bomber struck Shiite pilgrims resting by the side of a road south of Baghdad in Iskandariyah, killing at least 18 people and wounding 75.
Georgia’s announcement last week that it was recalling its 2,000 soldiers from Iraq has forced the Americans to shuffle units to fill the vacuum.
The recall also came as the Bush administration is awaiting a recommendation from its top commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, on future force levels.
Col. Steve Boylan, chief spokesman for Petraeus, said the general has not completed his assessment and it was premature to speculate on any potential effect the Georgian withdrawal.
“It’ll be a factor in the overall analysis … but it isn’t the only factor,” Boylan said. “It is another element, although unexpected, of the overall analysis of the situation and will be factored into his recommendation.”
Petraeus is expected to submit that report around end of this month before leaving Iraq in mid-September to become commander of U.S. Central Command, a position of broader responsibility that includes the war in Afghanistan.
The Georgians — the third-largest contributor of coalition forces after the U.S. and Britain — had been responsible for searching vehicles and people at a series of checkpoints along weapon smuggling routes in the desert border region near Kut, 100 miles southeast of Baghdad.
Iraqi soldiers already have taken over traffic checkpoints and are providing security at the entrance of the Georgians’ former patrol base, the U.S. military said.
Meanwhile, American soldiers with the 41st Fires Brigade are training them to take over the rest of the Georgians’ mission, including patrols and the base itself, according to the statement.
The move came after U.S. officials acknowledged the Georgians’ departure would have a “near-term impact” but insisted adjustments were being made to minimize the disruption to operations. Americans have increasingly been trying to move to more of an oversight role and letting Iraqi security forces take the lead so the foreign troops can eventually go home.
“They have stepped up to the plate, and their partnership is why we are able to take over the mission that the Georgians had to leave behind, with no change in the security and safety of the Iraqi people,” brigade commander Col. Richard M. Francey, Jr., said of the Iraqi troops.
The U.S. military said 18 people were killed in Thursday’s attack in Iskandariyah, but Iraqi police in the area gave a higher death toll of 26.
The woman blew herself up in the same residential area that was hit by a Feb. 24 suicide bombing that killed at least 40 Shiite pilgrims, authorities said. Pilgrims frequently use the area, which is occupied by many displaced families, as a short cut.
The festival celebrates the birth of Mohammed al-Mahdi, the 12th Shiite imam, who disappeared in the ninth century. Devout Shiites believe he will return to restore peace and harmony. The ceremonies reach their high point this weekend.
Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr called on his followers in a message read by his aides to renew their loyalty to the so-called Hidden Imam by signing a pledge with blood after Friday prayers.
Among the promises was “to liberate Muslims around the world and in Iraq in particular from troops of darkness,” apparent rhetoric for the U.S.-led foreign troops that he opposes.
The call came a week after al-Sadr effectively turned his Mahdi Army militia into a social welfare movement, although he said he would retain special guerrilla cells that his spokesman explained would attack U.S. troops only if the Americans don’t accept a timetable to leave Iraq.
