BAGHDAD — The U.S. military plans to introduce advanced
technology in Iraq to battle improvised explosive devices and missiles.
Iraqi officials said the U.S. military will deploy systems that
would detect IEDs. They said the systems, which remain unidentified, could
also trace rocket-propelled grenade launchers and mortars.
The new technology was meant to bolster U.S. and Iraqi forces in their
campaign to eliminate insurgency strongholds and stabilize Baghdad, Middle East Newsline reported.
Officials said U.S. forces would leave Baghdad as soon as the Iraqi capital
was deemed stable.
"The U.S. will have most of these systems, but eventually they would be
operated by Iraqi forces as well," an official said.
About 81,000 Iraqi and U.S. troops were scheduled for deployment in
Baghdad. On Jan. 16, the first Iraq Army brigade arrived in Baghdad from the
autonomous region of Kurdistan.
"The army summoned four brigades from the provinces of Al Anbar, Mosul,
Salaheddin and Tal Afar for deployment in Baghdad to help promote the new
security plan," Iraqi Chief of Staff Gen. Babakeer Zebari said.
Zebari said Gen. Aboud Jenbar has been appointed security commander for
the Baghdad region. Jenbar was said to have been a commander in the army of
the late Saddam Hussein.
Currently, Baghdad contains more than 42,000 Iraqi security personnel
and 24,000 U.S. troops. Officials said Iraq has committed to deploying
another 8,000 personnel, and the United States an additional 7,000 troops.
Officials said the Iraq Army has drafted a plan for the eventual
takeover of Baghdad. They said Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki, who has
appealed to the United States for heavy weapons, was studying the plan. Al
Maliki said that over the last few days 400 members of the Iranian-sponsored
Mahdi Army have been arrested.
"If we succeed in implementing the agreement between us to speed up the
equipping and providing weapons to our military forces," Al Maliki told a
briefing on Wednesday, "I think that within three to six months our need for
American troops will dramatically go down. That's on condition that there
are real strong efforts to support our military forces and equipping them
and arming them."
The U.S. military said Iraq would obtain helicopters, combat vehicles
and heavy weapons in 2007. U.S.-led coalition acting spokesman Rear Adm.
Mark Fox reported significant improvments in Iraqi training and equipping in
2006, but urged patience.
"We're in the midst of a transition from the initial training and
equipping phase into a partnering phase and ultimately with the goal of the
Iraqi army's capability to deploy and to conduct autonomous operations and
control their own battle space," Fox said on Wednesday.
