Study: US should lower profile in Iraq By ANNE FLAHERTY / AP [View All]

[Demeter]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070906/ap_on_go_co/us_iraq;_ylt=Ai_u5VuHH_XYciTZZlniBMys0NUE


U.S. forces in Iraq should be reduced significantly, according to a new study on Iraq's security forces that inflamed debate in Congress on how quickly that can happen without hurling the country into chaos...The report, authored by a 20-member panel comprised mostly of retired senior military and police officers, said the massive deployment of U.S. forces and sprawl of U.S.-run facilities in and around Baghdad has given Iraqis the impression that Americans are an occupying, permanent force.

(GEE, HOW COULD THE IRAQIS HAVE GOTTEN SUCH A SILLY NOTION?)

Accordingly, the panel said the Iraqis should assume more control of its security and U.S. forces should step back, emboldening Democrats who want troop withdrawals to start this fall..."Significant reductions, consolidations and realignments would appear to be possible and prudent," wrote the group, led by retired Gen. James Jones, a former Marine Corps commandant...The recommendation echoed previous independent assessments on the war, including the high-profile Iraq Study Group that said the combat mission could be transferred to the Iraqis by early 2008. But the burning question, left mostly unanswered by the panel, was precisely when Iraqi security units could take control and U.S. troops could leave...The panel's finding that the U.S. should reduce its visibility in Iraq is not necessarily at odds with the Bush administration. President Bush has long said the combat mission must be transferred to the Iraqis as soon as they can take over and security conditions improve...But the study suggests that lowering the profile of U.S. forces is a precondition to improving security conditions. It also says helpful "adjustments" could begin in early 2008...

Jones' report, released Thursday, concluded that Iraqi security forces would be unable to take control of their country in the next 18 months. If Iraqi troops were given more of a lead, as envisioned by the panel, it is expected that U.S. troops would still play a substantial role by providing logistics and other support, as well as continued training...Overall, the study found the Iraqi military, in particular its Army, shows the most promise of becoming a viable, independent security force with time. It predicted an adequate logistics system to support these ground forces is at least two years away....

Worse off is the Iraqi police force. It describes them as fragile, ill-equipped and infiltrated by militia forces. And they are led by the Ministry of Interior, which is "a ministry in name only" that is "widely regarded as being dysfunctional and sectarian, and suffers from ineffective leadership." ...Jones' panel recommended scrapping Baghdad's national police force and starting over...

The review is one of several studies Congress commissioned in May, when it agreed to fund the war for several more months but demanded that the Bush administration and outside groups assess U.S. progress in the war.