‘Spectacular’ Iraq attacks foreseen

BAGHDAD, Iraq – U.S. military officials on Wednesday said they expected the Sunni insurgent group al-Qaida in Iraq to “lash out and stage spectacular attacks” and fuel sectarian violence in response to an ongoing U.S. offensive north of Baghdad.

Calling al-Qaida in Iraq “the principal threat” to Iraqis, Brig. Gen. Kevin Bergner, the chief U.S. military spokesman, said the group was the main focus of the U.S. security campaign. Like other U.S. officials in recent weeks, Bergner stressed that al-Qaida in Iraq is supported by the organization led by Osama bin Laden and his deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri, an assertion that intelligence analysts have disputed.

“Al-Qaida senior leadership does provide direction to al-Qaida in Iraq,” Bergner told reporters. “They do establish and provide resourcing and support the network,” he added, noting that Zawahiri recently released a video seeking international recruits for the war in Iraq.

Analysts and intelligence officials say that al-Qaida in Iraq is just one of many Sunni and Shiite organizations fighting for power and against the U.S. occupation, and that al-Qaida in Iraq is smaller than many other militant groups. The analysts say that bin Laden’s organization provides more inspiration than direction to Sunni fighters in Iraq.

Bergner defended the focus on al-Qaida in Iraq. “They are clearly the main accelerant in sectarian violence and the greatest source of these spectacular attacks that are killing innocent Iraqis in such large numbers,” Bergner said. “Their numbers are very small, but the effect is very large.”

For the past three weeks, U.S. forces have been battling al-Qaida in Iraq in and around Baquoba, the capital of Diyala province, 30 miles northeast of Baghdad. Bergner said U.S. forces were also staging operations against the group in Mosul to the north as well as in Ramadi in western Anbar Province.