Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Richmond Times-Dispatch
November 19, 2006
Number of battalions that do not need U.S. support has declined
By Eric Rosenberg, Hearst Newspapers
WASHINGTON -- President Bush's policy of replacing U.S. troops with Iraqis has a major flaw. In the past two years, the number of Iraqi battalions ready to fight insurgents and militias without U.S. assistance has plummeted.
In June 2005, the Pentagon said three Iraqi battalions of approximately 800 soldiers each were ready to take on the enemy by themselves. By the fall of 2005, that had dropped to one battalion. By February 2006, that number had fallen to zero units, and by last June no more than one unit was capable of fighting without U.S. help.
And now, after millions of dollars spent training Iraqi forces, once again not a single Iraqi military unit is able to fight without American assistance.
Also, a declining number of Iraqi police units are able to perform basic policing operations.
The situation was acknowledged last week during hearings for Army Gen. John Abizaid, the top U.S. commander in the Middle East, before House and Senate lawmakers.
A total of 91 battalions of Iraqi troops are capable of battling insurgents and militias with U.S. troops providing backup. But American military commanders do not rate any of these units as capable of performing on their own.
Retired Marine Corps Col. Thomas Hammes, who managed bases and logistics for the training of Iraqi forces until 2004, said the capability of some Iraqi units is declining because Iraqis perceive the U.S. as preparing to withdraw forces. As a result, they are turning to militias for protection.
"If they believe we are leaving, the capability of the units will go down because they are seeking other options," said Hammes, a 30-year Marine Corps veteran. "We are sending a pretty consistent signal that we are getting out."
The fielding of independent Iraqi units -- those able to fight without the aid of U.S. firepower, intelligence, logistics or transportation -- is a crucial indicator of when large numbers of U.S. forces can begin leaving Iraq.
A contributing factor to the decline in independent units is that the U.S. hasn't provided the Iraqis with protective equipment.
"We have failed to give them much equipment after three years of training," said Hammes. "As it gets more violent, our guys are riding around in armored Humvees and armored trucks. The Iraqis are still riding around in pickup trucks."
Hammes added: "At what point do you as an Iraqi say, 'These guys (the Americans) are not serious'?"
The outlook for the Iraqi police isn't any more encouraging.
Army Lt. Gen. Michael Maples, chief of the Defense Intelligence Agency, said that the Iraqi police and its leadership in the Ministry of the Interior "are heavily infiltrated, and militias often operate under the protection or approval of Iraqi police to attack suspected Sunni insurgents and Sunni civilians."
Abizaid said last week that of the 27 operational Iraqi police battalions, only two are sufficiently able to take the lead in policing operations as long as Americans provide assistance.
"Back in October, six of them were in the lead. So you can see that we're not going in a good direction there," Abizaid said.
November 19, 2006
Number of battalions that do not need U.S. support has declined
By Eric Rosenberg, Hearst Newspapers
WASHINGTON -- President Bush's policy of replacing U.S. troops with Iraqis has a major flaw. In the past two years, the number of Iraqi battalions ready to fight insurgents and militias without U.S. assistance has plummeted.
In June 2005, the Pentagon said three Iraqi battalions of approximately 800 soldiers each were ready to take on the enemy by themselves. By the fall of 2005, that had dropped to one battalion. By February 2006, that number had fallen to zero units, and by last June no more than one unit was capable of fighting without U.S. help.
And now, after millions of dollars spent training Iraqi forces, once again not a single Iraqi military unit is able to fight without American assistance.
Also, a declining number of Iraqi police units are able to perform basic policing operations.
The situation was acknowledged last week during hearings for Army Gen. John Abizaid, the top U.S. commander in the Middle East, before House and Senate lawmakers.
A total of 91 battalions of Iraqi troops are capable of battling insurgents and militias with U.S. troops providing backup. But American military commanders do not rate any of these units as capable of performing on their own.
Retired Marine Corps Col. Thomas Hammes, who managed bases and logistics for the training of Iraqi forces until 2004, said the capability of some Iraqi units is declining because Iraqis perceive the U.S. as preparing to withdraw forces. As a result, they are turning to militias for protection.
"If they believe we are leaving, the capability of the units will go down because they are seeking other options," said Hammes, a 30-year Marine Corps veteran. "We are sending a pretty consistent signal that we are getting out."
The fielding of independent Iraqi units -- those able to fight without the aid of U.S. firepower, intelligence, logistics or transportation -- is a crucial indicator of when large numbers of U.S. forces can begin leaving Iraq.
A contributing factor to the decline in independent units is that the U.S. hasn't provided the Iraqis with protective equipment.
"We have failed to give them much equipment after three years of training," said Hammes. "As it gets more violent, our guys are riding around in armored Humvees and armored trucks. The Iraqis are still riding around in pickup trucks."
Hammes added: "At what point do you as an Iraqi say, 'These guys (the Americans) are not serious'?"
The outlook for the Iraqi police isn't any more encouraging.
Army Lt. Gen. Michael Maples, chief of the Defense Intelligence Agency, said that the Iraqi police and its leadership in the Ministry of the Interior "are heavily infiltrated, and militias often operate under the protection or approval of Iraqi police to attack suspected Sunni insurgents and Sunni civilians."
Abizaid said last week that of the 27 operational Iraqi police battalions, only two are sufficiently able to take the lead in policing operations as long as Americans provide assistance.
"Back in October, six of them were in the lead. So you can see that we're not going in a good direction there," Abizaid said.