Study: US should lower profile in Iraq By ANNE FLAHERTY / AP

[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.

[stillcool]

1. media blitz....again.

here's a post from yesterday...
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=1740685&mesg_id=1740685
Study: Iraqi Security Forces Not Ready
By ANNE FLAHERTY 09.05.07, 6:04 PM ET


here's today's same story, but a little different....
Sep 6, 2007
Commission Recommends U.S Reduce Its Footprints In Iraq

(RTTNews) - A 20-member commission consisting of retired senior military and police officers recommended in its report to the Senate Armed Services Committee that the United States lighten its footprint in Iraq to counter the image that it's an "occupying force."

Retired Marine Corps General James Jones, who led the commission, released the report on Thursday. The report, the latest in a series of studies that Congress commissioned in May, concluded that Iraqi security forces would not be able to take control of their country in the next 18 months. "The force footprint should be adjusted in our view to represent an expeditionary capability and to combat a permanent-force image of today's presence," said Gen. Jones.

According to the commission, if Iraqi troops were to be given more of a lead, as envisioned by the panel, it is still expected U.S. troops will have to play a substantial role by providing logistics, continued training, and other support. "This will make an eventual departure much easier," Jones said.
http://www.nasdaq.com/aspxcontent/NewsStory.aspx?cpath=20070906%5cACQRTT200709061432RTTRADERUSEQUITY_1048.htm&

and here's why it all sounds so familiar....

Commander Sees Shift In Role of U.S. Troops
Force Would Focus On Training Iraqis
By Bradley Graham
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, December 7, 2004; Page A01
CAMP AS SAYLIYAH, Qatar, Dec. 6 -- Army Gen. John P. Abizaid, the commander of U.S. forces in the Persian Gulf region, raised the possibility Monday that U.S. forces in Iraq could start to be reshaped as early as next year to reduce the number of combat troops and concentrate on the development of Iraqi security forces

Bush faults Iraqi forces
He acknowledges mixed results from U.S. training
David E. Sanger, Richard W. Stevenson, New York Times
Tuesday, December 21, 2004
(12-21) 04:00 PST Washington -- President Bush acknowledged on Monday that, 20 months after the fall of Saddam Hussein, the United States has encountered only "mixed" success in training Iraqi troops to secure the country and that it was "unacceptable" that some Iraqi units had fled as soon as they faced hostile fire.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/1...

Posted 3/28/2005 8:33 PM Updated 3/28/2005 8:39 PM
Iraqi troop training: signs of progress
By Peter Grier, The Christian Science Monitor
Due to missteps and a misjudgment about the strength of the insurgency at its onset, the U.S. really did not begin a concerted training effort until 10 months ago, said Cordesman. "The Iraqis actually involved in shaping Iraq's new forces are not pessimistic," he noted. "Most believe that Iraqi forces are growing steadily better with time, will acquire the experience and quality to deal with much of the insurgency during 2005, and should be able to secure much of the country by 2006."
Enough progress has apparently been made that U.S. officials are becoming more explicit about when American troops might start coming home. On Sunday, the top U.S. military commander in Iraq, Army Gen. George Casey, predicted on CNN's "Late Edition" that the U.S. should be able to make a "very substantial reduction" in the number of forces within a year.
Copyright c 2005 The Christian Science Monitor. All rights
Iraqi troop training: signs of progress

House Passes Inslee Amendment to Lift Funding Limit on Iraqi Troop Training
Accelerates Replacement of American Troops with Iraqi Security Forces
20 June 2005
In an effort to bring American troops home sooner, U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee offered and successfully passed an amendment today to help fully fund the training and equipping of Iraqi and Afghan troops. Inslee's amendment removes the $500 million cap that had been placed in the Department of Defense (DOD) Appropriations Act to train, equip and provide assistance to security forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. The DOD bill includes $45.3 billion for military operations in Iraq, yet placed limitations on the amount of money that could be spent on training a viable Iraqi security force. The House passed Inslee's amendment by a voice vote, without any objections.
http://www.house.gov/inslee/issues/iraq/iraq_troop_trai...


Huge Progress" Made In Training Iraq Troops : US General
Washington (AFP) Nov 07, 2005
"Huge progress" is being made in training Iraqi combat troops, and 24 homegrown battalions have now taken control of assigned territory, the general formerly in charge of the massive program said Monday.
Petraeus said that according to latest declassified figures, 40 battalions of Iraqi soldiers were capable of leading counter insurgency operations with the help of US or coalition troops.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2005-03-28-Iraq...