The U.S. military plans to embed American trainers
throughout Iraqi military and security units.
Officials said Central Command has drafted a proposal that would
mobilize hundreds of U.S. military trainers for a six-month stint in 2005 to
accelerate preparations for the Iraqi Army, National Guard and border
guards. The officials said the training reflected an assessment that
Baghdad's military, rather than the U.S.-led coalition, would be the key to
stability in Iraq.
[Since Nov. 10, Sunni insurgents have tried 13 times to capture police
stations in Mosul, including six attempts last week, Middle East Newsline reported. Iraqi and U.S. forces
haverepelled all of the attacks.]
Under the proposal, U.S. advisers would serve as mentors to military and
police units that proved unreliable in 2004. They included Iraqi forces that
have operated in such cities as Faluja, Mosul, Ramadi and Samara in the
Sunni Triangle.
"The idea is that we would reduce troops in 2005 while increase the
number of trainers with Iraqi military and security forces," a Defense
Department official said. "It's more important that they fight the
insurgency than we do because in the end we're going to leave, but they're
going to stay."
The official said National Guard and police commandos have already been
embedded in U.S. combat units in Iraq. He said the new military plan would
now introduce U.S. troops into all or most Iraqi units.
Over the last six months, U.S. forces have increased joint patrols and
other operations, particularly in the Sunni Triangle. In Mosul and the rest
of northwestern Iraq, elements of the U.S. Army's 82nd Airborne Division and
the 25th Infantry Division have carried out joint operations with Iraqi army
and National Guard forces to ensure security for the Jan. 30 elections.
Twelve combat battalions of both Iraqi and multinational forces have been
operating in the area.
"Iraqi security forces are increasing their capability [and] their
capacity for security operations daily," Lt. Gen. Tom Metz, commander of
Combined Joint Task Force 7, said. "They have proven themselves in
operations throughout Iraq in recent months in places like Najaf, Samara and
Faluja."
Officials said the new U.S. military plan was meant to teach Iraqi
forces to operate on their own. They said U.S. trainers would mentor Iraqi
officers and soldiers in an effort to ensure discipline and prevent
desertions. They said that despite accelerated training and equipping
numerous National Guard battalions were deemed unreliable and incapable of
withstanding attacks by Sunni or Shi'ite insurgents.
After the Jan. 30 elections in Iraq, officials said, Gen. George Casey,
commander of the U.S.-led military coalition, would set a date for launch of
the widespread embedding of U.S. trainers in Iraqi units. They said the
success of the elections would determine the capabilities of the Iraqi
military and security forces as well as their requirements for the rest of
the year. So far, about half of the projected level of 100,000 army,
National Guard and special operations units has been deployed.
Officials said the embedding of U.S. trainers in Iraqi military units
has take place on a limited basis. So far, each of the 27 Iraqi Army
battalions has a 10-man U.S. military advisory team, with Americans also
deployed at military brigade and division headquarters.
"We've got over 540 soldiers from the 1st Cavalry Division that are
embedded in our seven ING [Iraqi National Guard] battalions, and we are
very, very pleased with their performance," Maj. Gen. Peter Chiarelli,
commander of the 1st Cavalry
Division and responsible for the Baghdad area, said.
Under the proposal drafted by Central Command and approved in principle
by the Pentagon, U.S. military teams would be deployed in each of the 65
National Guard battalions. Other personnel would help the new Iraqi Border
Police Service.
"It's time to apply it on a larger scale," Brig. Gen. Carter Ham,
commander of American forces in northern Iraq, said. "It seems to me that
this is something we want to start doing in the immediate post-election
period."
Officials said a key issue in the embedding proposal would be that of
force protection. They said U.S. troops embedded in Iraqi military or
National Guard units could come under attack from insurgents who pose as
soldiers. In December 2004, 22 people, including 14 U.S. soldiers, were
killed in a suicide bombing by a Saudi national dressed in an Iraqi Army
uniform who infiltrated a mess hall at a military base in Mosul.
The U.S. military has also bolstered its presence among Iraqi police
units, particularly in the Sunni Triangle. Officials said U.S. troops have
been deployed in every police station in Mosul, where most of the
5,000-member police force defected in November 2004.
