Nation & World News
U.S. troops continue to battle insurgents in Iraq
As fighting goes on, Spain
announces it plans to pull
its troops out within 15 days
By Matthew Schofield
and Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson
Knight Ridder Newspapers (KRT)
BAGHDAD — As the fighting in
Iraq widened and the death toll con
tinued to mount on Sunday, Spain's
new prime minister said he's ordered
his country's troops out of Iraq as
soon as possible and the top U.S.
civilian administrator conceded that
Iraqi police and security forces aren't
ready to protect the country from in
surgents.
A dozen American soldiers died on
Saturday, 10 of them in action and
two in accidents, bringing the number
of American soldiers killed in action
in Iraq so far this month to 98, more
than died from enemy fire during the
U.S.-led invasion a year ago. .
Facing a self-imposed June 30
deadline to return sovereignty to an
interim Iraqi government that still
hasn't been chosen, the Bush admin
istration is now fighting to keep roads
and supply lines open, battling insur
gents virtually nationwide and trying
to hold together an international
coalition strained by killings, kidnap
pings and now by Spain's withdrawal.
An Egyptian news agency on Sunday
quoted Spain's new foreign minister,
Miguel Angel Moratinos, as saying that
Spain plans to withdraw its 1,300
troops from Iraq within 15 days.
The White House said it had ex
pected the move, which new Socialist
Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez
Zapatero had promised, but Sen.
John Warner, R-Va., the chairman of
the Senate Armed Services Commit
tee, on Sunday called it "trouble
some, " saying: "It will put pressure on
the other coalition nations that have
joined in this, I'm sure."
Sen. John Kerry, the presumptive
Democratic presidential nominee,
charged Sunday that the Bush admin
istration has been "stunningly ineffec
tive" on Iraq and said it will take a
new president to build a broader in
ternational coalition there.
"(Spain's withdrawal)
will put pressure on the
other coalition nations
that have joined in this,
I'm sure."
Sen. John Warner, R-Va.
The U.S.-led coalition is facing sep
arate Sunni and Shiite Muslim upris
ings, and the fighting widened on Sat
urday when five Marines were killed
after they were ambushed on the Syri
an border. That prompted Air Force
Gen. Richard Myers, the Chairman of
the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to demand
that Syria do more to prevent foreign
fighters from crossing into Iraq.
Iraqi security forces will not be
ready to safeguard the nation against
militants by the June 30 power trans
fer, U.S. civilian administrator L. Paul
Bremer said Sunday.
Another Marine died in al Anbar
province, home to both Fallujah and
Ramadi, in the Sunni Triangle that's
been a hotbed of resistance to the
U.S.-led occupation.
Three soldiers died south of Baghdad
when their convoy was ambushed near
Ad Diwaniyah. Another died in the
southern part of Baghdad after a road
side bomb exploded. Two more died in
apparent accidents, one when his
Abrams tank rolled over in the north
ern part of the capital and another
when he was electrocuted while work
ing on a generator in Tikrit.
Roadside bombs and ambushes
continue to bedevil U.S. and allied
uoops, and coalition forces kept the
major highways out of Baghdad dosed
on Sunday. The road west to Jordan has
been dosed since fighting intensified
earlier this month in Fallujah.
Despite an announcement that
some convoys are moving again, sol
diers in Baghdad have complained
that they re afraid they'll be back on
Meals Ready to Eat — prepackaged,
long-storing "foods" — because not
enough fresh supplies are coming
from Kuwait and Jordan.
In Fallujah and Ramadi, a shaky
peace continued to hold on Sunday,
and sites were designated in the city
for guerrillas to surrender weapons
such as missiles, mortars and rocket
propelled grenades.
Talks were scheduled to continue
on Tuesday in Baghdad between com
munity leaders and coalition repre
sentatives. More than 2,000 Marines
remain dug in around the mostly
Sunni Muslim town, and coalition of
ficials have said they're prepared to re
sume offensive operations if talks fail
to produce progress.
The other flashpoint in Iraq re
mains Najaf, where 2,500 American
soldiers have joined a Spanish con
tingent in an attempt to shut down
outlawed Shiite cleric Moqtada
al Sadr.
Attempts to negotiate a compro
mise over al Sadr with the Americans
remained at a standstill, spokesman
Qais al Khazali said on Sunday.
(c) 2004, Knight Ridder/fribune
Information Services. Schofield reported
from Baghdad and Nelson from Najaf.
Knight Ridder Newspapers
correspondent Patrick Peterson
contributed from Fallujah.
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