Bremer Reads Iraqis the Riot Act

L. Paul Bremer, head of the U.S. provisional authority in Iraq, warned the Iraqi people on Friday that if they don't begin to defend themselves against continuing attacks from terrorists in their midst, coalition forces won't be able to do the job alone.

"Iraq faces a choice," Bremer said during an address televised throughout the country. "If you do not defend your beloved country, it will not be saved."

Bremer's warning came a day after the Associated Press quoted Maj. Gen. Martin Dempsey, commander of the Army's 1st Armored Division, saying that "10 percent of newly trained Iraqi security forces 'worked against' U.S. forces in the past three weeks of fighting in Fallujah and the southern city of Najaf.

"An additional 40 percent of the Iraqi security forces walked off the job because they did not want to fight fellow Iraqis," the AP said.

Bremer's rhetoric could be interpreted as an ultimatum foreshadowing a major shift in U.S. tactics as it prosecutes the Iraq war, a strategy that has so far relied on limited force and the avoidance of collateral damage so as not to alienate the Iraqi people.

He emphasized, however, that in the end, unless Iraqis step up to the plate and reign in the radicals in their midst, they will seal their own fate.

"These anti-democratic forces will not disappear by themselves," he said. "We in the coalition will do our part to restore security. But you must do your part too."

Bremer painted the choice Iraq now faces in stark terms, reminding that Iraqis themselves - and not the U.S. - would end up paying the price of failure.

"You could take the path that leads to a new Iraq, a peaceful democratic Iraq," he warned. "or you could take the path that leads to the dark Iraq of the past."

Writing in the New York Post on Friday, military analyst Ralph Peters offered a similar theme, saying that the U.S. must face the possibility that the Iraqis themselves are incapable of democratic self-government.

"With sufficient troops, we can force Iraq's Arabs to behave," Peters said. "But we can't force them to succeed."

"If Iraq collapses into medieval fantasies and blood feuds, we may still be proud of having given this crippled civilization a last great chance to heal itself."

Ultimately, Peters argued, "Iraq is not a test of the limits of American power. When necessary, we can do whatever must be done for our security and prosperity. Our use of force, in Iraq and elsewhere, has been remarkably - even foolishly - restrained."

"We can break up the country to protect the Kurds," he posited, suggesting that the Sunnis and the Shiites in the south be left to terrorize each other to their hearts content.

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