The frustration was said to be greatest among U.S. Army battalion and
company commanders in Anbar, Baghdad and Diyala. These officers have
maintained that numerous Iraqi units remain undermanned and unreliable in
the war against Al Qaida in Baghdad.
"We tend to find they [Iraqi officers] want responsibility," Dempsey
said. "They perhaps
don't completely understand the breadth and scope and depth of the
responsibility."
The sources said the undermanning of units has severely strained the
Iraq Army. They said Iraqi soldiers remain in combat for long periods
without rest or training.
"We face a summer of hard fighting," U.S. military spokesman Rear Adm.
Mark Fox said on Wednesday.
Another element of U.S. frustration was the lack of a professional Iraqi
army and police officer corps. The sources said the recruitment of officers
who served under the former Saddam Hussein regime has not resolved the
shortage.
"Right now it takes us nine months to grow a brand new second
lieutenant," Dempsey said. "We have four military academies. We produce
about 2,400 brand new lieutenants every year in a nine-month curriculum."
Dempsey said Iraqi police development has fallen way behind that of the
army. Despite recruitment efforts, he said, 85 percent of the police force
was composed of Shi'ites.
"We're almost to the point where the ministry sees itself responsible
for the well-being of the soldiers, and we're almost to the point where the
soldiers believe that the ministry is loyal to them," Dempsey said. "And I
think when you ask me, where is the tipping point, I think that's the
tipping point, in my line of work. I think by the end of the year we will be
there."