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Fearing infiltration, Iraq balks at deploying mechanized division
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SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Thursday, April 7, 2005
BAGHDAD – Iraq has ordered its military to suspend deployment
of its new mechanized division.
The reason: Iraqi officials are concerned that commanders would steal
main battle tanks and armored vehicles and sell them to Sunni insurgents.
Officials said the Defense Ministry and General Staff have not yet
determined that the commanders of the division could discipline their
troops. They said Sunni insurgents were believed to have infiltrated parts
of the military, including the mechanized division.
The mechanized division was completed in late 2004 and meant to be
deployed in 2005 in cities throughout the Sunni Triangle, Middle East Newsline reported.
"The Iraqi army has an armored division but has not used it yet because
we want to be sure of the loyalty of the commanders," Defense Minister Hazem
Shalaan said. "The fear of a conspiracy, always present in the past, has not
completely disappeared."
Officials acknowledged that Baghdad as well as the U.S. military remained unsure of
whether commanders could be trusted with heavy weaponry.
"We want an honest military that is occupied completely with the
country's security," Shalaan said.
Copyright © 2005 East West
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