thedrifter
06-25-07, 03:01 PM
General: Iraq transfer cannot happen overnight
By Pauline Jelinek - The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Jun 25, 2007 14:16:37 EDT
Iraqi security forces are becoming less sectarian and more capable, but the U.S. should not be in a hurry to hand over control before they’re ready, an American commander said Monday.
Since last fall, Iraqis have cleaned out some of the sectarian bias from the national police force, removing many Shia commanders and replacing them with Sunnis, said Army Brig. Gen. Dana Pittard, who heads the day-to-day program for training Iraqi forces.
“The growth of the Iraqi security forces over the past couple of years has really been quite dramatic in many ways,” he said, but it will still be “a couple of years” before they can fully take control of Iraq security.
Coalition forces are helping train Iraqi army soldiers, police, border security agents and others. U.S. officials have said repeatedly that getting Iraqi forces capable of managing the violence in the country is key to bringing U.S. troops home.
But Pittard said that U.S. commanders have learned a lesson by withdrawing forces too quickly from several areas in the past, only to discover that Iraqi forces were unable to maintain security there.
Since last fall, Iraqis have worked to improve a national police force known for being overwhelmingly Shia and for its sectarian bent, Pittard told a Pentagon news conference. They removed seven of nine brigade commanders — five because of “sectarian bias.” One of two division commanders is now Sunni, as are four of nine brigade commanders and 8 or 10 of the 27 battalion commanders, Pittard said by video conference from Iraq.
Asked if Iraqis will be able to move fairly soon to take control of areas now being cleared out with troops sent in the Bush administrant build up, Pittard said “we’ve really got to be careful.”
He noted that coalition forces drew down “too soon” in Diyala province about a year and a half ago. It was a hotbed of the Sunni insurgency before President Bush sent extra troop for a Baghdad security mission started in February and has become worse since militants fled there to avoid the increased U.S.-led operations in the capital.
“I would tell you that we have learned those lessons but it’s something that we have to keep reinforcing,” Pittard said. “We cannot be in a hurry to withdraw our coalition forces from Diyala province, as an example.”
Ellie
By Pauline Jelinek - The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Jun 25, 2007 14:16:37 EDT
Iraqi security forces are becoming less sectarian and more capable, but the U.S. should not be in a hurry to hand over control before they’re ready, an American commander said Monday.
Since last fall, Iraqis have cleaned out some of the sectarian bias from the national police force, removing many Shia commanders and replacing them with Sunnis, said Army Brig. Gen. Dana Pittard, who heads the day-to-day program for training Iraqi forces.
“The growth of the Iraqi security forces over the past couple of years has really been quite dramatic in many ways,” he said, but it will still be “a couple of years” before they can fully take control of Iraq security.
Coalition forces are helping train Iraqi army soldiers, police, border security agents and others. U.S. officials have said repeatedly that getting Iraqi forces capable of managing the violence in the country is key to bringing U.S. troops home.
But Pittard said that U.S. commanders have learned a lesson by withdrawing forces too quickly from several areas in the past, only to discover that Iraqi forces were unable to maintain security there.
Since last fall, Iraqis have worked to improve a national police force known for being overwhelmingly Shia and for its sectarian bent, Pittard told a Pentagon news conference. They removed seven of nine brigade commanders — five because of “sectarian bias.” One of two division commanders is now Sunni, as are four of nine brigade commanders and 8 or 10 of the 27 battalion commanders, Pittard said by video conference from Iraq.
Asked if Iraqis will be able to move fairly soon to take control of areas now being cleared out with troops sent in the Bush administrant build up, Pittard said “we’ve really got to be careful.”
He noted that coalition forces drew down “too soon” in Diyala province about a year and a half ago. It was a hotbed of the Sunni insurgency before President Bush sent extra troop for a Baghdad security mission started in February and has become worse since militants fled there to avoid the increased U.S.-led operations in the capital.
“I would tell you that we have learned those lessons but it’s something that we have to keep reinforcing,” Pittard said. “We cannot be in a hurry to withdraw our coalition forces from Diyala province, as an example.”
Ellie