Officials said the U.S. Army was relaying combat vehicles and other
platforms to its Iraqi counterpart. They said thousands of U.S. combat
vehicles have already been transferred to the Iraq Army in an effort to
bolster its counter-insurgency capability.
"As item by item comes out, we ask if it is excess to the Army's
requirements," Maj. Gen. George Harris, an official in the office of the
Secretary of the Army, said. "If it is excess, then let's see if this is
something Iraq needs."
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Officials said the equipment was provided to the Iraq Army to accelerate
independence. They said a much greater amount of U.S. equipment was
transferred to Afghanistan.
"It is to our advantage to have the Iraqi Army capable of standing on
its own sooner rather than later," U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Mitchell Stevenson,
deputy chief of staff of G4, said.
Stevenson said 559 up-armored Humvee combat vehicles have been
transferred to the Iraq Army. He said the Army has also been trained to
operate and maintain the vehicles.
Officials said the U.S. military has pledged to transfer 8,500 Humvees
to Iraqi security forces. They said about 7,000 vehicles have already been
relayed with the rest expected to arrive by late 2011.
"If that meant giving them some of our equipment to enable them to
develop their minimum essential capability so
they could operate after we left — that is what we needed to do," Stevenson
said. "We have in fact done some of that."
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