BAGHDAD — The U.S. military has begun to transfer authority to Iraqi
security forces.
Officials said the U.S.-led coalition has been quietly handing over
the command to Iraq's military and security units in the four most violent
provinces in the country. Fourteen of the 18 provinces have already been
under Iraqi security control.
In the latest move, the U.S. Army's First Cavalry Division has handed over
authority in several areas to Baghdad to the Iraq Army's 40th Brigade, Middle East Newsline reported.
"We have reached a certain stage," Iraqi Brig. Gen. Jalil Khalaf said at
the handover ceremony on Feb. 21. "The Americans are very accurate. They saw
that we reached a certain stage in advanced training and in [the ability to]
take over responsibilities."
Officials said the handover marked a new stage in Iraqi security
responsibility. So far, the U.S. military has been responsible for security
in such provinces as Anbar, Diyala, Ninveh and Salaheddin.
But since the Jan. 30 elections, the U.S. military has expanded the
security responsibility of the Iraq Army, particularly in the Sunni
Triangle. Officials said the United States has determined that some Iraqi
units were ready to take over neighborhoods in Baghdad as well as some of
the city's suburbs.
"We have now entered the first phase [of the handover of security
management in Iraq]," Khalaf said. "We have got very good and highly
developed equipment. We have also received mid-sizes weapons, such as
mortars."
Officials said the 40th Brigade would be responsible for patrolling the
streets of Baghdad amid the reduction in U.S. military operations. They said
that in 2005 additional Iraqi units would be under Iraqi military, rather
than coalition, command.
A leading mission by Iraqi troops was regaining control of Haifa
Street, an insurgency-controlled artery regarded as the most dangerous in
the capital. Despite repeated shelling, the U.S. military has failed to
pacify the street.
In Baghdad, three U.S. soldiers were killed when an improvised explosive
device was detonated on Tuesday. At the same time, Iraqi Intervention Force
soldiers with the 24th Battalion, 6th Brigade arrested four men, including a
Syrian, on charges of transporting weapons in Baghdad.
Iraq's military contains about 60,000 soldiers. Officials said more than
25 percent of them have been regarded as combat-ready.
"Your training has been nothing short of phenomenal," U.S. Major General
Peter Chiarelli said at the ceremony. "No one can doubt your high level of
readiness. No one can doubt your resolve. No one can doubt your spirit."
