Senior Iraqi: US troops needed for "AT LEAST A DECADE" to prevent chaos [View All]

[BurtWorm]

This leapt out at me from the front-page Times story on the poor performance of Iraqi security officers.


http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/30/international/middleeast/30police.html?adxnnl=1&oref=login&adxnnlx=1101844337-VP/uW2aqXPCxJzre79FPIA

While Bush administration officials say that the training is progressing and that there have been instances in which the Iraqis have proved tactically useful and fought bravely, local American commanders and security officials say both Iraqi forces are riddled with problems.

In the most violent provinces, they say, the Iraqis are so intimidated that many are reluctant to show up and do not tell their families where they work; they have yet to receive adequate training or weapons, present a danger to American troops they fight alongside, and are unreliable because of corruption, desertion or infiltration.

Given the weak performance of Iraqi forces, any major withdrawal of American troops for at least a decade would invite chaos, a senior Interior Ministry official, whose name could not be used, said in an interview last week.