Bloodshed in Iraq to carry on through next year: US officer

[Flagg]

Bloodshed in Iraq to carry on through next year: US officer



BAGHDAD (AFP) - A senior US military officer in Iraq (news - web sites) warned there was no end in sight to the insurgency, predicting more violent attacks against the coalition and its allies through national elections scheduled for January.



"I think that we can expect while we are all thinking about the first of July, we ought to all be thinking about January," the officer told AFP.


The officer also called into doubt the coalition's claim the installation of an interim Iraqi government on June 30 would deflate the insurgency.


"The important thing to remember is it's only an interim government and it's not an elected government," the official said.


The officer warned that as elections creep up, the insurgents will step up their use of violence to influence Iraq's future.


January is "when the posturing will occur politically which will then link ... into the insurgency or other militaristic types of actions," the officer said.


The officer identified the Sunni Muslim minority, which was the main supporter of Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s personality cult, as the motor of the insurgency, but added the rebels have no need for the jailed dictator.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20040502/wl_mideast_afp/iraq_us_violence&cid=1514&ncid=1478