Army general: War will be a long campaign

Dan Kulin

Wednesday, April 16, 2003 | 10:04 a.m.

The United States' war against terrorism is "a marathon, not a sprint," which started in Afghanistan, moved to Iraq and will continue until terrorists are no longer capable of carrying out an attack similar to Sept. 11, a top Army general said Tuesday.

"This will be a long campaign. ... The war on terrorism will go on until we are sure what happened on 9-11 can never happen again," Army Deputy Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Richard Cody said during a public forum Tuesday at the Community College of Southern Nevada, Henderson campus.

There has been speculation Syria might be the next target of the Bush administration. The president and other top officials have warned the Syrian government not to harbor any fugitives from Saddam Hussein's toppled regime or provide weapons of mass destruction to terrorists.

Cody refused to say whether Syria could be America's next target or whether Syria poses a major threat to the United States.

However, Cody said Syria has supported terrorists in the past and "any country that supports terrorism is a threat to us."

Meanwhile, Cody said there is still much work to do to bring stability to Iraq.

U.S. troops will be in Iraq for a while, Cody said, adding that exactly how many troops stay there and how long they stay will be largely influenced by the efforts of Iraqis.

Also, there are still several sites in Iraq believed to hold weapons of mass destruction that need to be searched, Cody said.

Eventually, the U.S. will train a new Iraqi army as the U.S. is now doing in Afghanistan, Cody said.

The new Iraqi soldiers will be screened to keep out those who were part of the ousted regime, he said.

Cody's remarks came during a public forum sponsored by Rep. Jon Porter, R-Nev.

The general, who serves as the Army director of operations, took questions from the crowd of about 30 in attendance after giving a short speech.

One man asked the general how war protests affect the troops and what he would say to protesters if given the chance.

Cody said the soldiers might be bothered a little bit by the protests, but he thinks they know the majority of Americans support them. Also, the troops probably recognize that the protesters are only able to protest because soldiers have fought for and protected their freedoms.

"If those protesters could ever go to the countries and see what the soldiers see, they would probably temper their protest," Cody said.

The general also called on area residents and businesses to support the families of reservists and National Guard soldiers serving overseas.

"Put your arms around them because they don't have a big military base to put their arms around them," he said.