World Tribune.com

200,000 Iraqi troops by October

SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Tuesday, June 28, 2005

The United States plans to expand the Iraqi military and security forces to 200,000 by October 2005.

Officials said the U.S.-led coalition in cooperation with the Iraqi Interior Ministry and Defense Ministry has accelerated recruitment and training in 2005. They said that within a year Iraqi troops would be ready to conduct independent missions against Sunni insurgents, Middle East Newsline reported.

"The Iraqi security forces are getting better every day," Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said. "There are more of them, and they're better equipped and better trained."

[On Tuesday, the U.S. military and Iraqi forces launched the third major operation in western Iraq over the last month. The latest operation began as a Shi'ite parliamentarian was killed in a suicide car bombing in Baghdad.]

Officials said Iraq now has 168,500 members in its military and security forces. More than 70,000 serve in the military and the rest are in the police, border guards, special commando battalions and counter-terrorist units. Another 50,000 to 70,000 Iraqis serve as site-protection personnel.

By October 2005, Iraq was expected to have 200,000 soldiers and security officers. Officials said they would be used to maintain order during the constitutional referendum and national elections.

"They're never going to be as good as [the] American military," Rumsfeld said in a television interview on June 26. "You can't look at it that way.

You have to say, 'What are you trying to achieve with what types of units? And where are they in their progress?' And the answer is they're progressing every week, every month, to a greater degree of sophistication."

A key obstacle, Rumsfeld said, was the indigenous political and administrative support network of Iraqi security forces. He said the chain of command as well as supervision from the Defense Ministry and Interior Ministry remain weak.

"The biggest problems are [that] the ministries [of defense and interior] are weak," Rumsfeld said. "The chains of command [and] the linkages between the police and the military forces -- they have to work together if they're going to repress this insurgency. Most people are focusing on the metrics, the hard numbers. But I would say the soft things -- the ministries, the chains of command -- are considerably more important."

Rumsfeld said he expects an increase in violence with the approach of a constitutional referendum and elections for a permanent government. Iraqis are scheduled to vote on the constitution by Oct. 15 and elect a government under that constitution by Dec. 15.

Officials have focused on the successes of Iraqi military and security forces in Baghdad amid an offensive by the Al Qaida network led by Abu Mussib Al Zarqawi. On Monday, Iraqi soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 2nd Iraqi Army Brigade prevented a car bombing in central Baghdad. The Iraqi car contained two 125 mm rounds and a propane tank under the hood.

"Iraqi security forces are becoming more independent and more confident in their own capabilities," Lt. Col. Clifford Kent, a Task Force Baghdad spokesman, said.

Central Command chief Gen. John Abizaid said Iraqi troops would become capable of fighting the insurgents without U.S. support. Abizaid said he envisioned that within the first half of 2006 Iraqi forces would be ready to assume the lead in counter-insurgency operations. Less than 10 percent of Iraqi units were said to be capable of independent missions.

"What is most encouraging to me is that Iraqi commanders were confident," Abizaid said. "They knew their capabilities were increasing; they were engaging more frequently and steadily in combat. They are not ready to stand alone yet, but they will be."

Abizaid acknowledged that Al Zarqawi, despite his injury, remains in command of the insurgency. He said the U.S. military was close to finding him.

"I think we have a good idea," Abizaid said. "We know what we're doing in our efforts how to get him. But I want to also stress that it's not about one man. It's about his network. His network exists inside Iraq. It's connected to Al Qaida. It's got facilitation nodes in Syria. It brings foreign fighters in from Saudi Arabia and from North Africa."


Copyright © 2005 East West Services, Inc.

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