Saturday, September 23, 2006
More Iraqi troops needed in Baghdad
Security
The U.S. needs roughly 3,000 more Iraqi forces to join the battle in Baghdad, but requests for the troops have not been met because Iraqi soldiers are reluctant to leave their home regions, the commander of U.S. forces in Baghdad said Friday. Maj. Gen. James Thurman told reporters that while the U.S. has 15,000 troops in Baghdad, there are only about 9,000 Iraqi soldiers there - a fraction of the 128,000 Iraqi Army troops that the U.S. says are now trained and equipped.
Iraqi soldiers generally join battalions in their geographic regions, and Thurman said that "due to the distance, (they) did not want to travel into Baghdad." He said the Iraqi minister of defense is working on the problem, and "I'm confident that they're going to meet that requirement here within the next few weeks, but it's going to take a little time." Soldiers also expressed concerns that they would face uncomfortable sectarian confrontations.
Iraqi soldiers generally join battalions in their geographic regions, and Thurman said that "due to the distance, (they) did not want to travel into Baghdad." He said the Iraqi minister of defense is working on the problem, and "I'm confident that they're going to meet that requirement here within the next few weeks, but it's going to take a little time." Soldiers also expressed concerns that they would face uncomfortable sectarian confrontations.
Another problem is that the Iraqi army is not considered to be very mobile and lacks the armoured transport vehicles or planes that would allow it to quickly deploy large groups of soldiers. There are a total of 302,000 Iraqi security forces, which include the army, national and local police. Currently there are 12,000 national police and 22,000 local police serving in Baghdad, Thurman said.
