WASHINGTON — The United States has determined that Iraq deployed far
fewer troops than promised for the current offensive against Al Qaida in
Baghdad.
Officials said the Iraq Army, under newly-appointed commander Lt. Gen.
Aboud Gambar, has deployed most of its planned force of 9,000 soldiers in
Baghdad. But they said many members of Iraqi units have gone missing or
never arrived.
Defense Intelligence Agency director Michael Maples said two of the
three Iraq Army brigades arrived to support an Iraqi-U.S. mission to secure
Baghdad. But Maples said Iraqi combat units were in some cases less than
half of their intended troop strength.
"The range that I have seen in the battalion manning is between 43 and
82 percent of manning in those battalions," Maples said.
In early February, U.S. troops outnumbered their Iraqi counterparts in
the Baghdad operation by more than eight to one. On Feb. 23, the New York
Times reported that in the first stage of the operation, 300 Iraqi troops
joined 2,500 U.S. soldiers in the fighting in Baghdad. The mission called
for up to 90,000 Iraqi and U.S. troops in the Iraqi capital.
In January, the Senate Armed Services Committee was told by the Bush
administration that Iraqi troops would comprise about 60 percent of the
Baghdad operation. At a hearing on Feb. 27, committee members questioned the
reliability of Iraqi military and police units as well as their capabilities
in combat and intelligence.
Maples said the three Iraq Army brigades that moved into Baghdad were
combat-ready. But he pointed out that two of the three brigades were
comprised of Kurds and could face language and cultural difficulties in
Baghdad.
"There are some limitations associated with that, and in fact, two of
the three brigades are Kurdish brigades," Maples said. "And so you have some
issues associated with language, with cultural understanding and with
serving in an area in which the individuals were not recruited. And that
will be an issue that has to be worked through."
Officials said the Iraq Army and police have planned for an absentee
rate of 25 percent. They said that in some cases the Iraqis deployed two
brigades to ensure that one of them serves in the field.
Still, the U.S. intelligence community has determined that Iraqi
military and security forces
have been fulfilling manpower, training and equipment requirements. But the
community asserted that the Iraqis remain unable to fight the insurgency war
without significant U.S. help.
"They are better today than they were a year ago, but they are still not
where we need them to be," National Intelligence Director John McConnell
said.
Officials said Iraqi forces have taken the lead in some places,
including parts of Baghdad. They said the military was in the early stages
of the Baghdad security plan, expected to peak in June.
"One of the problems was having fully manned units when they arrived in
Baghdad to take up the defensive positions," McConnell said. "So it's a work
in progress is how best to describe it. It's not there yet."
