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Thursday, September 2, 2010     INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING

U.S. military's new low-profile role in Iraq: Procurement, training, advice

BAGHDAD — The U.S. military has been ordered to significantly lower its profile in Iraq.

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Officials said the U.S. force of nearly 50,000 would avoid high-profile activities and statements. They said virtually every decision on counter-insurgency and other operations would be left to the Baghdad government.

"Everything has been done by, with and through the Iraqi forces," Maj. Gen. Stephen Lanza, the U.S. military spokesman in Iraq, said.


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Officials said the U.S. military would help Iraq in procurement programs, Middle East Newsline reported. They said Baghdad would order aircraft, main battle tanks, naval ships, radars and other systems to develop a conventional capability.

"It's going to be a modern and fairly sophisticated military," Lt. Gen. Michael Barbero, commander of the U.S. training program for Iraq, said.

Officials said the military began the stability phase of its mission, called Operation Dawn, on Sept. 1. Operation New Dawn, meant to support Iraqi counter-insurgency operations, training and mentoring, has been commanded by the new U.S. military chief in Iraq, Gen. Lloyd Austin. Officials said the U.S. military, which did not conduct a unilateral operation in Iraq since May 2009, has already significantly reduced its training of Iraqi police.

"Our military forces here and those of the Iraqi nation remain committed to insuring that our friends in Iraq will succeed," Austin said on Sept. 1. "And we will demonstrate our commitment through a continued partnership, and we will help the Iraqis develop their capability to provide for their own national defense by advising and assisting, training and equipping the security forces."

The U.S. military would also maintain civilian operations in Iraq. Officials cited support for the Provincial Reconstruction Teams, operated by the State Department and meant to build civilian capacity.

"We will continue until the end of 2011 to have as many as 50,000 troops here," Antony Blinken, the national security adviser of Vice President Joseph Biden, said. "The combat mission ends, but the presence of combat troops does not."

Officials acknowledged that Iraqi security efforts were being hampered by the political vacuum in Baghdad. Six months after parliamentary elections in March 2010, political parties have failed to form a ruling coalition, and the general did not expect any immediate breakthrough.

"I would suggest, both from a security perspective and also from a security capacity perspective, that the quicker the government gets seated, obviously, the better that is," Lanza said. "We want to see the Iraqis succeed. And we believe that if they get this government moving, they will have that opportunity."

The U.S. military has withdrawn most of its combat assets while converting others to support missions. Officials cited the use of combat helicopters for the transport of U.S. personnel and equipment from Iraq.

Officials said much of the U.S. reconnaissance in Iraq was being conducted by unmanned aerial vehicles. They said UAV missions would increase over the next year along with the decline in the number of manned platforms.

"You will see an increase in flight hours in the next year," U.S. Army Col. Gregory Gonzalez, UAV project manager, said. "It's not going to slow down any time soon."

Austin replaced Gen. Ray Odierno as U.S. military commander in Iraq. Odierno acknowledged the growing danger by Al Qaida and other insurgency forces, but said Iraq was capable of maintaining its security.

"There will be mad days, but they will continue to provide adequate security," Odierno said.



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