US: al-Qaida in disarray in Iraq

The American general in Iraq Johns Fines, Lt. Gen. John Vines, commander, Multinational Corps Iraq and Commanding General of the VXIII Airborne Corps, considered that al-Qaida organization is being dismembered in Iraq after the killing or jailing many of its members, many of them along the Euphrates River and the Syrian borders, and the demolishing of the Sunni support which many of them reject to what he called terrorism and the presence of al-Qaida organization in Iraq.

Fines said in Baghdad in a press conference that varied intelligence indicators show that the current violence in Iraq does not involve al-Qaida organization, rather it involves Iraqi groups.

Asked "We heard from you today and we've heard from other commanders about the Sunni individuals or groups coming forward who had supported violence now saying they want to be part of the process. I don't think anybody's given us any specific instances, any details of that. Can you point to one or more specific individuals or groups that have come forward and joined the process and laid down their arms, or even expressed an interest in doing that?" Vines said " I wouldn't do that. You should refer that to the transitional government and the American embassy. They are involved in that process. That is not something I normally participate in. So no, I couldn't and wouldn't."

Asked " Let me just follow up on that by asking, then: Even if all or most of the Sunni Iraqi part of the insurgency were to decide to support a broad-based government, how big an impact would that have on the overall picture of violence? In other words, how much of the violence is by the Iraqi groups and how much by the foreigners?" Vines said "I believe that the majority is by Iraqi groups -- some who feel like they run the risk of being disadvantaged, and perhaps they're using violence as a bargaining tool to influence the political process; other insurgent groups and other terrorist groups have done that in other parts of the world, and you know them as well or better than I do. There is a portion of the Iraqi population that opposes the presence of the coalition, and they feel like that their resistance is nationalistic in basis, and they attempt to conduct operations in an effort to force the coalition presence out. So I believe it would have a very significant impact if they laid down arms and participated in a democratic process as opposed to violence."

Asked "You may know that one of the things that Congressman Murtha has been saying about the U.S. presence in Iraq is that the U.S. troops themselves are a target of the violence and a catalyst of the violence. I wonder if you could comment on that to the degree to which you think that may or may not be true." General Vines said "Without question, some Sunni -- well, in fact, some Iraqis -- do view the coalition presence as a reason to conduct violence against them. That is without question. The extent of that I could not characterize."

He said that al-Qaida might be able to return back to its activity. A matter which means continuing the policy of attacks to prevent them from establishing their own successors.