Thursday, June 28, 2007
Report - evidence some Iraqi Security Forces are committing sectarian violence
Security
(CNN) -- U.S. trainers have been unable to develop an indigenous Iraqi force fully capable of taking over security for the country, according to a congressional report released Wednesday. Training Iraqi forces is key to the administration's plan to "stand down" American forces as the Iraqis "stand up." The $19 billion effort has produced "mixed results," particularly with the Iraqi Police Services, according to the report from the House Armed Service Committee's oversight subcommittee.
"The bottom line is that after three months of studying the U.S. effort to develop the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF), we cannot assess the operational capability of these forces," the report said. "We are actually left with more questions than answers." The report says the Department of Defense "cannot report in detail how many of the 346,500 Iraqi military and police personnel that the Coalition trained are operational today."
The report includes 42 recommendations -- most for the Department of Defense and most requiring better reporting on the training effort -- but the subcommittee does not have legislative authority. The full Armed Services Committee must step in for any of the recommendations to take effect.
The report says "there is strong evidence that some [Iraqi Security Forces] are independently committing sectarian violence and other illegal activity;" adding that "the Iraqi Ministries of Defense and Interior are not capable of accounting for, supporting, or fully controlling their forces in the field."
The report was signed by 16 members of the bipartisan subcommittee.
The report also said that the subcommittee experienced difficulties getting information, documents and witnesses from the Department of Defense. "Congress must continue its constitutionally mandated role of oversight, whether or not the Department of Defense wants to participate," Meehan said in remarks included in the report. "The Congress and the American people would be better served if the Department didn't continue its current strategy of obfuscation, delay and denial."
Meanwhile, a bipartisan group of congressmen on Wednesday called on the president to reconvene the Iraq Study Group to provide a new assessment of the war in Iraq. The White House should act "as quickly as possible" to bring the Iraq Study Group back, said Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Virginia, who originally crafted the legislation that created the group in March 2006. The 10 members of the Iraq Study Group -- evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats -- spent nearly nine months gathering information and talking to experts about possible strategies for Iraq.
"The bottom line is that after three months of studying the U.S. effort to develop the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF), we cannot assess the operational capability of these forces," the report said. "We are actually left with more questions than answers." The report says the Department of Defense "cannot report in detail how many of the 346,500 Iraqi military and police personnel that the Coalition trained are operational today."
The report includes 42 recommendations -- most for the Department of Defense and most requiring better reporting on the training effort -- but the subcommittee does not have legislative authority. The full Armed Services Committee must step in for any of the recommendations to take effect.
The report says "there is strong evidence that some [Iraqi Security Forces] are independently committing sectarian violence and other illegal activity;" adding that "the Iraqi Ministries of Defense and Interior are not capable of accounting for, supporting, or fully controlling their forces in the field."
The report was signed by 16 members of the bipartisan subcommittee.
The report also said that the subcommittee experienced difficulties getting information, documents and witnesses from the Department of Defense. "Congress must continue its constitutionally mandated role of oversight, whether or not the Department of Defense wants to participate," Meehan said in remarks included in the report. "The Congress and the American people would be better served if the Department didn't continue its current strategy of obfuscation, delay and denial."
Meanwhile, a bipartisan group of congressmen on Wednesday called on the president to reconvene the Iraq Study Group to provide a new assessment of the war in Iraq. The White House should act "as quickly as possible" to bring the Iraq Study Group back, said Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Virginia, who originally crafted the legislation that created the group in March 2006. The 10 members of the Iraq Study Group -- evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats -- spent nearly nine months gathering information and talking to experts about possible strategies for Iraq.
Labels: Frank Wolf, Iraq Study Group, Iraqi security forces, Iraqi security forces training, U.S
