Coalition makes a difference, says ADF brigadierFrom: By Patrick...

Coalition makes a difference, says ADF brigadier
From: By Patrick Walters in Baghdad
March 09, 2006

THE commander of Australian forces in the Middle East claims coalition troops are turning the tables on al-Qaeda in Ira q, with insurgents' ability to mount effective attacks steadily diminishing.

Brigadier Paul Symon said that while Ir aq was going through an "awkward period" during the transition to a new government, the US-led coalition remained confident that the country would not descend into civil war.

Despite daily images from Ir aq of carnage from suicide and roadside bombs, Brigadier Symon said military operations against al-Qaeda and its affiliates were proving to be "very effective".

He said in Baghdad that the organisation led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was sustaining significant losses. He said it was now less agile and relying on much less seasoned fighters.

"We are seeing an insurgency that is diminishing in effectiveness in its tactics and techniques. It's trending that way. I think they have lost some of their better people," he said.

The figures on insurgents were tightly held, but military officials said Zarqawi forces had lost hundreds of fighters this year.

"When the history of this country (Iraq) is written there's going to be a special place for what Australia has done. In the end we have made a difference in Iraq."

Brigadier Symon said the timetable for a phased troop withdrawal depended on the emergence of a stable government in the country and could be carried out province by province. Late 2007 was the "right aiming point" for a withdrawal of coalition forces, he said.