by Maxim Kniazkov
WASHINGTON, Aug 18 (AFP) - The United States pulled its punch in Iraq again late Tuesday as Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld announced US forces arrayed in Najaf against Shiite militants of firebrand cleric Moqtada Sadr were "unlikely" to storm the town`s holy places to deal the militia a fatal blow.
The announcement, made in a lengthy interview with PBS`s "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer" program, followed days of growing protests by Shiite communities throughout the Middle East against what they see as a heavy-handed assault on one of the most sacred sites of Islam.
Najaf is revered by Shiites all around the world because it is the site of the Imam Ali Mosque, the presumed burial place of Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib, son-in-law of the Prophet Mohammad, the fourth caliph and founder of the Shiite branch of Islam.
"It`s unlikely that the US forces would be the ones that would deal with the holy places," Rumsfeld said. "That`s just not something that we are likely to do."
He said he believed soldiers from Iraq`s fledgling national army "would be the ones that would deal with that because it`s such a significant thing to the religion."
The development appeared to mirror the events of last April in Fallujah, where US marines halted a full-fledged assault on the insurgent-infiltrated Sunni city in order to avoid fomenting more anti-American violence across the country.
It was not immediately clear if the Iraqi army and a multitude of other security forces created in the wake of the March 2003 US-led invasion would be capable of independently dealing with Sadr`s Mehdi Army that draws its recruits from impoverished young Shiites.
Rumsfeld insisted the forces available to the interim Iraqi government now counted about 200,000 men, of which 110,000 "probably are well-trained and well equipped."
But Republican chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Richard Lugar warned Sunday that if the the Iraqi government decided to take on Sadr on its own, it would be "a close contest."
"It`s touch-and-go whether they are trained enough -- that is, the Iraqi police -- to take on Sadr now in Najaf," Lugar told Fox News.
A recent US congressional investigation has found Iraqi security forces are "unready" to fight insurgents because their units remain inadequately trained, underequipped and suffer from a high desertion rate.
As many as 82 percent of personnel deserted from Iraqi Civil Defense Corps units deployed in Western Iraq and around Fallujah last April, when anti-American guerrillas launched a spate of deadly strikes against coalition forces, according to a report released in late June by the Government Accountability Office.
The desertion rate reached 49 percent in corps units deployed in and around Baghdad, while in towns like Baqubah, Tikrit, Karbala, Najaf and Kut, it stood at 30 percent.
However, Rumsfeld also appeared to be skeptical of efforts by delegates of a national conference underway in Baghdad to create an interim parliament to persuade Sadr and his militia to lay down their arms and join the political process.
One such attempt failed Tuesday when Sadr did not show up for a meeting with the delegates, who had hoped to open dialogue with him.
"He clearly has behaved in an unstable manner," Rumsfeld said of Sadr. "He`s not a predictable person. He`s young. He`s not well thought of as a religious leader in the country."
He expressed the hope the interim government would take resolute action against the Mehdi Army and establish full control over Najaf and other Iraqi cities.
"Can you have this fellow running around killing innocent Iraqis and firing off mortars and artillery pieces and rocket-propelled grenades and taking over a city indefinitely?" asked the defense secretary. "I think probably the Iraqi government will decide not."