- WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- The
Pentagon, loathe to increase the U.S. force in Iraq, is rapidly fielding
Iraqi security forces amid concern among some U.S. lawmakers that asking
the hastily trained Iraqis to combat an increasingly bold insurgency there
could be a "recipe for failure."
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- Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said on Thursday that
118,000 Iraqis were operating in U.S.-trained police, border patrol, site
protection and other security forces.
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- "Ultimately, the security for that country has to
be taken over by the Iraqi people," Rumsfeld said, adding that U.S.-trained
Iraqi security forces are being fielded "as rapidly as possible."
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- Sen. Joseph Biden, a Delaware Democrat, said having Iraqis
providing security in their own country was a good move in the long term.
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- "But here's the rub: it takes time to build effective
forces," Biden said. "... the faster we go, the poorer trained
and less legitimate the police and army will be. Putting them in charge
prematurely is a recipe for failure."
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- "Prematurely placing the burden of security on Iraqis
is not the answer," added Sen. John McCain, an Arizona Republican.
"Hastily trained Iraqi security forces cannot be expected to accomplish
what U.S. forces have not yet succeeded in doing: defeating the Baathists
and international terrorists inside Iraq."
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- McCain added, "It is irresponsible to suggest that
it is up to Iraqis to win this war. In doing so, we shirk the responsibility
that we willingly incurred when we assumed the burden of liberating and
transforming their country, for their sake and our own."
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- Analysts said that for this "Iraqification"
security strategy to work, the Pentagon must assemble capable forces quickly
without skimping on training and background checks to prevent infiltration
by Saddam Hussein loyalists or others fighting the U.S. occupation.
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- RISK OF FREELANCE MILITIAS
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- The Pentagon also must ensure that these forces do not
evolve into freelancing militias with their own political agendas that
could contribute to a future civil war, analysts said.
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- Rumsfeld has rejected calls from some lawmakers to increase
the number of U.S. troops in Iraq to stamp out the insurgency, arguing
that more U.S. troops would represent "more targets."
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- "And to the extent we can put our effort behind
having Iraqi police and Iraqi army and Iraqi security forces -- people
who know the situation there better, know the language, are much more likely
to get better intelligence than we can get -- I think we're probably better
off," Rumsfeld said.
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- The total of 118,000 Iraqis now in security forces includes
60,000 police, 36,000 guarding facilities like oil pipelines and power
stations, 12,000 patrolling borders, and smaller numbers in a civil defense
corps and new national army, the Pentagon said. The Pentagon's goal is
for 221,000 Iraqi security forces in place next year.
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- Iraqis in the new security forces get differing amounts
of training -- from up to eight weeks for police, down to much less for
site-protection jobs, officials said. Some Iraqis are joining security
forces after a "'basic" level of training, with the hope of adding
further training later, one official said.
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- Another defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity,
said the Pentagon was trying to balance sufficient training and background
checks with the urgent need to get Iraqis on patrol. "We are accepting
some risk, but it's a risk-benefit trade-off," the official said.
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- Heritage Foundation analyst James Carafano said he favored
the creation of Iraqi security forces, but the Pentagon must keep a close
watch on them.
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- "If you have a security force that becomes a political
instrument or the possession of one political party, that could well threaten
political stability, and that's a bad thing," Carafano said.
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