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SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
IRAQ PLANS TO EXPAND ARMY IN 2007
BAGHDAD — The Iraq Army plans to expand significantly over the next
few months.
Officials said the army would recruit and train another 20,000 soldiers
in 2007. They said the army, in cooperation with the U.S. military,
would add 25 battalions and two division headquarters.
"Our goal is to reduce the dependence and increase the self-reliance,"
U.S. Lt. Gen. Martin Dempsey, commander of the Multi-National Security
Transition Command-Iraq, said. "That's why we're here."
[On Sunday, the U.S. military reported the capture of more than 70
suspected Al Qaida insurgents throughout Iraq. The military said Iraqi and
U.S. troops also seized nitric acid and other bomb-making materials in the
western province of Anbar.]
Officials said the expansion of the Iraq Army would allow troops to
fight the Sunni insurgency. They said this would also enable a rotation of
units for rest, re-equipping and retraining.
"This is the first year, 2007, where the government of Iraq will spend
more on its security forces than the United States government has spent on
them," Dempsey told a news conference on April 22. "This is the first year
since 2003, and we think that's a very positive and important moment for
us."
[On Monday, the Washington Post reported that Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri
Al Maliki helped remove or arrest 16 army and police commanders. The
newspaper said nine of the commanders were Sunnis and connected to the
offensive against the Iranian-sponsored Mahdi Army.]
Officials said the army plans to replace its Soviet-origin light weapons
with U.S. models. They cited the retirement of the AK-47 and the deployment
of the M-16 assault rifle for Iraqi soldiers and M-4 carbines for officers.
Under the plan, Iraq would upgrade every service in the military.
Officials said the Iraq Air Force was adding platforms to the fleet in 2007,
including air transport as well as intelligence, surveillance and
reconnaissance planes.
"By the end of the year we'll have 28 [Russian-origin] Mi-17 transport
helicopters, as well as 16 U.S. Huey-2 helicopters," Dempsey said.
Officials said the air force would also be granted the ability to
conduct reconnaissance operations. They said intelligence, surveillance and
reconnaissance aircraft would send real-time video to an operations
center in an effort to prevent insurgency sabotage and attacks.
The Iraq Navy would also undergo expansion over the next few months.
Officials said the navy would assume increasing responsibility for maritime
and oil terminal security in the northern Gulf.
The Iraqi plan also includes the development of the police and security
forces responsible to the Interior Ministry. Officials said the ministry has
launched a four-phase transformation program to increase force effectiveness
and build leadership.
Dempsey said the police plan was halfway through the second phase, and
that six out of nine brigade leaders have been replaced. He said the third
phase was scheduled to begin in September 2007.
"What we've done is take them out of the conflict and put them into a
retraining program to make them more like police -- give them a much greater
appreciation for their responsibility to protect and serve the people,"
Dempsey said. "Most reports now are that the units coming out of this
transformation program are actually performing quite well."
Dempsey said logistics, communications and intelligence remain key
challenges for the Iraqi security forces. The U.S. general said improved
tactical performance and the development of an institutional base would
comprise the major goals of the current plan.
"[Transitioning] doesn't mean we walk away," Dempsey said. "What it
means is that our relationship changes, and that it changes such that now we
would enter back into those areas when asked, because the situation exceeds
the capabilities of the governor and the local forces. That's the normal
course of events in a democratic system."
Copyright © 2007 East West
Services, Inc.
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