BAGHDAD — The U.S. military plans to establish an Iraqi security
force along the Syrian border in 2006.
U.S. officials said about 10,000 Iraqi soldiers have been deployed in
Anbar province in the western part of the country. So far, they said, the
Iraqis require constant U.S. military support for operations, Middle East Newsline reported.
"At this point in time, we don't have any forces that are ready to stand
up and conduct independent operations on their own," Maj. Gen. Stephen
Johnson, commander of the Second Marine Expeditionary Force and responsible
for much of Anbar, said. "But that's okay because they're making great
progress in their development."
Officials said the Iraqi forces would share a military base with the
United States at Rawah, near the Syrian border. They said the base would
host Iraqi and U.S. forces assigned to eliminate insurgency strongholds in
Anbar and block the flow of weapons and equipment from Syria.
Johnson, who is also commander of Multinational Forces West, told a July
22 briefing that the Iraqi military presence would increase over the next
few months. He said that by the end of 2005 an entire Iraq Army division
would be deployed in Anbar.
"By the end of the summer, we'll have an Iraqi division here in Al
Anbar, and then, later on in the fall, greater numbers of forces
will come in as their training is completed," Johnson said.
Johnson said that since May 2005 Iraqi troops have demonstrated
significant improvement in operations with U.S. Marines and
Army forces. The troops have been quick to identify improvised explosive
devices and suspected suicide bombers.
Officials said the U.S. military has been forming the first police units
in Anbar. The Marines have trained Iraqi officers in cities in Anbar and
facilitated the construction of police forts.
Over the last eight months, the U.S.-led coalition has launched an
effort to rebuild the police force in Al Anbar, particularly in such cities
as Faluja and Ramadi. Officials said corrupt individuals and suspected
insurgency operatives were dismissed and Iraqi authorities instituted what
they termed a rigorous screening process.
"Right now there's about close to 400 police that have gone through this
program and are back in the streets in Faluja and in the surrounding area,"
Johnson said. "We got a ways to go on that, but the schoolhouses are filled.
The vetting process continues."
Still, Johnson said, Iraq's borders remain without an effective police
force. He said much of Iraq's borders are porous.
"They still have a long way to go to seal off the border or to grow
those facilities along the border," Johnson said. "There hasn't been anybody
out there for a long time. So they have their work cut out for them."
