By ROBERT H. REID, Associated Press Writer BAGHDAD, Iraq - An Italian member of the U.S.-led coalition has resigned, accusing L. Paul Bremer's administration of inefficiency and failing to understand Iraq (news - web sites) — sharp criticisms that raise questions about the authority's ability to carry out the delicate task of transferring power to Iraqis.
The allegations by Marco Calamai, a special counselor of the Coalition
Provisional Authority in the southern province of Dhi Qar, came as Russia and
France criticized the U.S. timetable for handing over power to the Iraqis by
July 1.
Rising casualties added new urgency to the task. Two more American soldiers
died Monday in separate attacks north of Baghdad, one in an ambush on a patrol,
the other by a roadside bomb.
U.S. forces attacked dozens of suspected guerrilla hideouts before dawn
Monday, killing six alleged insurgents and capturing others, U.S. officials
said. For the second time in as many days, American troops fired a
satellite-guided missile with a 500-pound warhead, this one at a suspected
insurgent sanctuary 10 miles south of Saddam Hussein (news
- web
sites)'s hometown, Tikrit.
"Clearly, we're sending the message that we do have the ability to run
operations across a wide area," said Lt. Col. William MacDonald of the 4th
Infantry Division. "We have overwhelming combat power that we will utilize in
order to go after groups and individuals who have been conducting anti-coalition
activities."
In Rome, the Italian Foreign Ministry confirmed Monday that Calamai had
resigned but gave no reason.
However, Calamai told the Italian reporters in Nasiriyah on Sunday that the
failure of the coalition to understand Iraqi society had created "delusion,
social discontent and anger" among Iraqis and allowed terrorism to "easily take
root." He cited last week's truck bombing at an Italian paramilitary garrison in
the city, which killed 19 Italians and 14 others.
Calamai said about $400,000 a month was supposed to be made available for
projects in Dhi Qar province alone but "because of the muddled organization of
(the coalition), only a fraction has been spent."
"The provisional authority simply doesn't work," Calamai told the newspapers.
He said only a U.N. administration could turn the tide.
There was no immediate comment from Bremer's staff.
State Department spokesman Richard Boucher, asked about Calamai's
resignation, said the coalition authority has made "excellent progress" in
several areas, including "the physical reconstruction of Iraq, the restoration
of services to Iraqi people, the beginnings of political authority among the
Iraqi ministers and now an accelerated path to political authority."
President Bush (news
- web
sites) met with a small group of Iraqi women on Monday and promised the
United States would not pull out of Iraq when a provisional government is
established.
"I assured these five women that America wasn't leaving," Bush said. "When
they hear me say we're staying, that means we're staying."
Calamai's criticism is similar to that leveled by Anthony Cordesman of the
Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
Cordesman, who went to Iraq at the invitation of the U.S. government, said
coalition authority staffers believe their headquarters is an overcentralized
bureaucracy that is unrealistic about developments in Iraq. He said too many
coalition authority workers are talking to Americans rather than working with
Iraqis.
Such criticism raises questions about the coalition's ability to oversee the
transfer of power. Although primary responsibility rests with the Iraqis,
several Iraqi politicians have said privately that the effort cannot succeed
without strong U.S. direction.
Under the plan, announced Saturday by the U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing
Council, members of a national assembly will be chosen in a series of provincial
caucuses. The assembly will select a provisional government to oversee the
country until a new constitution is drafted and elections are held in 2005.
The coalition authority will oversee the drafting of a "basic law" that will
serve as an interim constitution until elected representatives can draw up a
permanent one.
The United States has put together main guidelines for the interim
constitution, including guarantees of freedom of speech, religion, equal rights
and judicial independence.
Washington had insisted on withholding power until the Iraqis had ratified a
new constitution and elected a democratic government. However, differences over
how to choose delegates to write the constitution threatened political stalemate
at a time of growing insurgency and rising casualties among the 130,000 U.S.
troops here.
After talks with Bremer at the White House last week, Bush agreed to an
accelerated timetable.
Although Iraqi politicians applauded the decision, the new timetable has not
satisfied France and Russia, two the sharpest critics of the Iraq war. French
Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin called for transferring power by the end
of December.
In Moscow, the Russian Foreign Ministry said the plan could fail to win
support within Iraq and leaves little room for input from the United Nations (news
- web
sites).
"This approach is fraught with the risk that the given agreement will not
attain the necessary legitimacy internally, as well as from the point of view of
international law," ministry spokesman Alexander Yakovenko said.
In an audio tape broadcast Sunday by Al-Arabiya television, a speaker
purported to be Saddam criticized Iraqis who cooperate with coalition forces,
calling them "stray dogs" who lack even the "minimum political weight" to "walk
in the streets of Baghdad or any other Iraqi city."
The CIA (news
- web
sites) said Monday it could not authenticate the tape because of its poor
quality.
____
Associated Press writers Hamza Hendawi in Baghdad and Jim Gomez in Tikrit
contributed to this report. The
Mulindwas Communication Group
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