Iraqi general rejects Bush criticism

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Iraq's top general on Sunday rejected President Bush's criticism that some Iraqi government troops were unwilling to fight insurgents and have deserted the battlefield, saying the president had been misinformed.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Gen. Babaker B. Shawkat Zebari also said that the man who carried out Tuesday's suicide attack on a U.S. base in Mosul — in which 22 people died — was not a member of the Iraqi security forces.

He spoke as the Ansar al-Sunna Army group, which has claimed responsibility for the Mosul strike, released a video on a Web site showing what purported to be the suicide bomber bidding farewell to two comrades and footage of what appeared to be the actual bombing.

The bomber is seen dressed in black with a mask and wearing an explosives belt. The U.S. military has said the bomber may have been wearing an Iraqi security forces uniform when he slipped into a dining tent on the base and detonated his explosives.

The bombing, which was the deadliest attack on a U.S. base in Iraq, highlighted that the anti-U.S. insurgency has not diminished even after American offenses last month. A day before the attack, following a string of deadly suicide bombings in southern Iraq, Bush made a sobering assessment and criticized the performance of Iraqi troops.

"There have been some cases where, when the heat got on, they left the battlefield — that is unacceptable," Bush said at a Dec. 20 press conference.

Asked about Bush's comments, Zebari told AP: "I think the president received misleading information."

Zebari, Iraq's only four-star general, insisted none of his troops had deserted from combat. But he acknowledged that some recruits undergoing training had quit after being told they would be posted to the restive city of Fallujah, which was taken in a U.S.-led assault in November.

"Not a single soldier ran away from the battlefield (in Fallujah). It was not a difficult battle. Fallujah was cleaned and the number of our martyrs (fatalities) was only seven." Zebari said.

Zebari said it was possible the bomber in the Mosul blast was wearing an Iraqi uniform, noting that such uniforms are sold in markets. "It is not difficult for a person to wear one," he said.

"Certainly (the suicide bomber) was not a member of the National Guards because all of our men stationed in the base have been accounted for," he said.