Iraqi insurgents 'scattered'

2004-11-18 22:14

Washington - The senior US marine commander in Iraq said on Thursday that the US-led offensive in Fallujah has "broken the back of the insurgency" by seizing their main base of operations.

We've taken away this safe haven," Lieutenant General John Sattler said a video teleconference from Fallujah.

He said that assessment was based on what US officials found in records uncovered in insurgent command posts inside Fallujah.

Sattler's conclusion is far more optimistic than an assessment made shortly before the offensive by marine intelligence officers, who said the insurgency would rebound if US troop levels in the area were significantly reduced after the offensive.

Sattler made no mention of the intelligence assessment, but he stressed the importance of bringing essential services back on line in Fallujah as quickly as possible and starting reconstruction work.

He said the insurgents are now "scattered" in Iraq with fewer resources available to carry out attacks.

"Each and every time we can force these individuals to go to new locations, expand their circle of friends - if you want to call it that - to include some that they don't know and they don't trust, they'll bring in rookies, more junior people that will, in fact, make mistakes," he said.

"And that's why I mentioned that this has disrupted them, I believe - my personal belief - across the country. This is going to make it very hard for them to operate," he added. <>Search-and-clear phase

Sattler cautioned that remnants of the insurgents who had controlled Fallujah for months are still a problem.

Sattler at one point said Fallujah "is not quite secure at this point," but later he said he had misspoken.

"The town of Fallujah is secure, but we're in the search-and-clear phase that will make it safe - relatively safe is the best word," he said.

Bomb-making materials and improvised explosive devices need to be recovered or disarmed, he said, and the marines are still looking for remaining insurgents who may be lying low with the intention of disrupting efforts to reconstruct the city.

He said US forces have found a number of documents from the insurgents' command posts inside the city that lists the names of some of their fighters, including some from outside of Iraq.

Sattler said city residents who fled before the US-led offensive will not be allowed back until conditions are safer.

He said the resettlement would be done in phases, starting with residences in the northern part of Fallujah.

- AP