Powell fears worsening situation
Sep 27 2004
US Secretary of State Colin Powell says he sees the situation in Iraq "getting worse" as planned elections approach.
And the top US military commander for Iraq says he expects more violence in the months ahead.
His comments followed a week in which American President Geroge W Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi spoke optimistically about the situation, despite the beheadings of two more Americans and the deaths of dozens of people in car bombings.
In its latest report, the US military said four Marines died in separate incidents on Friday, adding to a toll that has topped 1,000 since the US-led invasion of Iraq.
Powell said the insurgency is only becoming more violent as planned January elections near.
"It's getting worse," he said on US television programme This Week. "They are determined to disrupt the election. They do not want the Iraqi people to vote for their own leaders in a free, democratic election."
Army Gen. John Abizaid, commander of US troops in the Middle East, warned that voting may not be possible in parts of Iraq where the violence is too intense.
"I don't think we'll ever achieve perfection and when we look for perfection in a combat zone we're going to be sadly disappointed," he said on Meet the Press, another American television programme.
Abizaid compared the situation in Iraq to the disputed US presidential election in 2000 that put Bush in the White House following a protracted Florida ballot fight that ended up in the Supreme Court.
"I don't think Iraq will have a perfect election. And if I recall, looking back at our own election four years ago, it wasn't perfect either," he said.
