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01/07/2005:

"General Fears 'Spectacular' Iraq Attacks"

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - A top U.S. military official raised fears Friday that insurgents may try to carry out ``spectacular'' attacks as the Iraqi election draws near, while Sunni religious leaders called for unity but persisted in their demands that the vote be delayed.

The comments by Air Force Brig. Gen. Erv Lessel echoed a warning by Iraq's prime minister the day before that insurgent violence would only increase ahead of the Jan. 30 election for a National Assembly.

Hours after Prime Minister Ayad Allawi spoke, a roadside bomb killed seven U.S. soldiers in northwest Baghdad on Thursday, the deadliest attack on American forces since a suicide strike in Mosul 2 weeks ago. Two Marines also were killed in western Iraq.

A state of emergency, originally announced two months ago, also was extended Thursday for 30 days throughout the country except for the northern Kurdish-run areas. The decree includes a nighttime curfew and gives the government additional power to make arrests and launch military or police operations.

Lessel, deputy chief of staff for strategic communications, said the United States has no intelligence indicating specific plans for a major attack, but the insurgents' biggest weapon was their ability to instill fear.

``I think a worst case is where they have a series of horrific attacks that cause mass casualties in some spectacular fashion in the days leading up to the elections,'' Lessel told The Associated Press in an interview.

Full Article: guardian.co.uk