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Iraq Army deploys 100 batallions — up from one in May 2004
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SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Thursday, June 16, 2005
The Iraq Army has succeeded in deploying more than 100
battalions, but the lion's share of these units remain unable to operate
without the United States.
U.S. officials said that over the last year about 100 Iraq Army
battalions have been formed, trained and deployed throughout the country.
They said each of the battalions contains a staff of U.S. mentors and
trainers who accompany the Iraqi units on missions, Middle East Newsline reported.
"In May of 2004, there was one — count them — one Iraqi army battalion
that was deployable anywhere inside that country," Gen. Peter Pace, vice
chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said. "Today, there are over 100
battalions, not all of which are fully capable of independent operations
right now."
[On Thursday, the U.S. military reported the killing of six soldiers,
five of them Marines, over the last 24 hours in Iraq. The Marines were
killed when their vehicle was bombed near Ramadi, a prime insurgency
stronghold in the Sunni Triangle.]
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Pace said the U.S. military has reviewed the readiness capability of
each Iraq Army battalion. He said the review determined those battalions
capable of deployment anywhere in Iraq, those capable of operating in a
limited area, and units designated as still in need of training.
"The numbers of battalions that are operating first side by side with us
has increased dramatically," Pace said in a Defense Department briefing on
June 14. "Then, those that are operating independent, as Iraqi units under
their own country's orders, has increased dramatically. The numbers of
Iraqi army brigades has increased."
Pace did not say how many Iraq Army battalions could operate
independently. But a March 2005 review by the U.S. military determined that
three of 80 Iraqi battalions were capable of independent operations.
Officials said Iraqi military and police comprise 169,000 troops. They
said the number would reach 200,000 by December 2005.
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