Defense Department Report, July 25: Iraq Operational Update

The U.S. commander of the Fourth Infantry Division in Iraq says tips from Iraqi citizens are increasing now because Iraqis are confident the coalition will act upon the information they provide, as it did when an informant disclosed the location of Uday and Qusay Hussein.

Army Major General Ray Odierno said an Iraqi informant walked into a brigade headquarters July 24 and provided information that led coalition forces to a buried cache of weapons that included 33 SA-7 shoulder-launched surface-to-air missiles; 45,000 sticks of dynamite; 34 Rocket-Propelled Grenade (RPG) launchers, 150 RPG ammunition rounds; 10 AK-47s, and 28 sub-machine guns.

Odierno, who briefed reporters in the United States via videoconference from Tikrit July 25, said another walk-in provided information that led to a July 24 raid south of Tikrit, Saddam Hussein's ancestral home. Thirteen individuals were detained there, and some, he said, are believed to be part of the former regime leader's personal security detachment.

Odierno also said that the level of attacks on coalition forces in his area of responsibility in Iraq -- ranging from north of Baghdad to the oilfields north of Kirkuk and from the Iranian border west to Lake Tharthar -- have declined in recent weeks by as much as 50 percent as his forces conducted two major military operations against noncompliant forces: Operations Sidewinder and Ivy Serpent. In a single raid, the officer said, elements of his division hauled in an enormous amount of C-4 explosives with 2,500 blasting caps, 250 AK-47s, and more than 1,000 RPG rounds and 3,000 mortar rounds as well as $100,000 and 38 million dinars thought to be a funding source for attacks against coalition forces.

Odierno said most attacks are not organized at the national level, tend to be uncoordinated, and may, at times, be sponsored by a wealthy local, but he also warned that some of the attacks are becoming increasingly sophisticated. For example, he said, hostile Iraqis are now going after "softer targets" such as Iraqis seen to be cooperating with the United States. His soldiers, the commander said, are anticipating greater asymmetrical terrorist-type threats that could be manifest in the form of suicide and remote-controlled car bombers.

On deployment issues, Odierno said he expects his division of 27,000 soldiers to be in Iraq for about one year. The commander also reported that his division has completed 354 projects involving the repair of banks, hospitals, clinics, schools, police stations, courthouses, water treatment plants and telecommunications sites. He said another 592 projects have been launched, with those promoting public security as a top priority.

The first group of Iraqi border police graduated in July and the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps has been established, according to the commander. Recruitment for Iraq's new Army is also under way.

IRAQI MEDICAL COMMUNITY WANTS TO REGAIN REGIONAL STATUS

Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs William Winkenwerder briefed reporters at the Pentagon July 25 on the desire of Iraq's medical community to re-establish itself as a leader in regional health care, as it was many years ago.

The United States and other countries and international and nongovernmental organizations are assisting Iraqi doctors, nurses and clinicians through the now-functioning Iraqi Ministry of Health, according to Winkenwerder. He has just returned from a trip to Iraq where he surveyed health care activities that are under way there.

The Iraqi medical community is suffering from a health care system that received less than $20 million in 2002 for a population of 25 million, he said. Money that should have gone to service the medically needy in Iraq, Winkenwerder said, was diverted instead to palace construction and equipment for Iraq's military.

Under Saddam Hussein's regime, the defense official said, there was an infant mortality rate of 83 deaths per 1,000 births -- the worst rate in the Middle East. Winkenwerder also said one in eight Iraqi children never reached the age of five.

Coalition Provisional Authority Administrator Paul Bremer has authorized $210 million for Iraq's Ministry of Health for the next six months, according to the assistant secretary. He said $40 million will be used to provide new generators to be delivered to 34 Iraqi medical facilities and outpatient clinics in the next six months.

Iraq's health infrastructure is essentially sound, he said, but its doctors need to take refresher courses and there are too few nurses available. In the past 50 days, Winkenwerder said, 3,000 tons of medical supplies, pharmaceuticals and other essential items have been put into the hands of medical workers.

Winkenwerder participated in the first National Health Care Conference in Iraq on July 17. Some newly established goals include improving maternal and child health care and assisting victims suffering from mental illness and psychological trauma.

Winkenwerder noted that some Iraqi doctors were forced to carry out torture and surgery to deliberately disfigure enemies of the former regime. Doing so was particularly traumatizing, he said, for individuals dedicated to the profession of healing. Many Iraqi civilians suffer from what he described as "chronic-fear syndrome" generated by the political climate of Saddam Hussein's reign.

Overall, the assistant secretary said Iraqi medical leaders "are energized" and optimistic about the future while seeking additional assistance from the world community.