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| Iraq-Jordan |
| Iraqi commander says he plans to take over security in 6 months |
| 2005-01-27 |
| Iraqi troops need six more months before they can take control of cities and towns, the country's army chief said Thursday, and after that, the military would still need help from U.S. and other foreign forces to protect its borders. In an interview with The Associated Press, Gen. Babaker Shawkat Zebari said he was optimistic about prospects for bolstering the capabilities of Iraq's security forces -- a key U.S. goal as the White House comes under domestic political pressure to withdraw American troops. "God willing, during this year, our units will be fully armed, trained and have enough soldiers," said Zebari, an ethnic Kurd. "After all this is finished, I am very optimistic that the Iraqi army will be able to protect the territories and border." Zebari said that if Iraqi forces continue to improve, "we will be able to protect Iraqi cities and villages within six months." On Wednesday, however, the top U.S. commander here, Gen. George Casey, said Iraqi forces were not ready to take over the fight against the insurgents and there was no guarantee they would ever be able to do so. In remarks prepared for delivery at Johns Hopkins University, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., said the U.S. military presence in Iraq "has become part of the problem, not part of the solution" and that the United States needs to work with the Iraqis "on a specific timetable for the honorable homecoming of our forces." Zebari said he was hopeful that in the next six months, the insurgents could be weakened militarily as Iraqi forces grow in confidence and capability. Nevertheless, Iraq would still need U.S. help even after Iraqi troops and police assume the main responsibility for protecting Baghdad and other major cities. "The Iraqi army should benefit from presence of coalition or multinational bases to protect from any border violation by any country," Zebari said. According to Zebari, Iraqi authorities in the past three weeks have detained 2,000 insurgents, including foreigners from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Yemen. He added that 95 percent of the suicide attacks in the country are carried out by foreigners. As the elections draw nearer, insurgents attacks have been increasing to try to scare people away from the polls. Flyers distributed in Baghdad and elsewhere warn that the insurgents will "wash the streets of Baghdad" with voters' blood. The government is tightening security starting Friday, imposing a 7 p.m.-to-6 a.m. curfew, banning driving on election day, and closing the border and airport. "There are threats. There are suicide attackers and terrorists, and we do not say they are not dangerous, but we have exerted all we can to find safe ground so that the voter can vote," Zebari said. To try to bolster its fighting capabilities, Zebari said the Iraqi military was buying weapons from former Soviet bloc nations, mainly Poland and Ukraine. Iraq's old army used Soviet equipment and officers and sergeants are more familiar with it. Earlier this month, Deputy Defense Minister Ziad Cattan visited Poland, where he signed a $20 million deal to buy weapons from the state-owned arms company Bumar PHZ. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |