General Seeking Faster Training Of Iraq Soldiers

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New York Times
January 23, 2005
Pg. 1

General Seeking Faster Training Of Iraq Soldiers

By Eric Schmitt

WASHINGTON, Jan. 22 - The retired four-star Army general who was sent to Iraq two weeks ago to assess operations there has concluded that American troops must speed up and strengthen the training of Iraqi security forces, by assigning thousands of additional military advisers to work directly with Iraqi units, said senior defense and military officials here and in Iraq.

The officer, Gen. Gary E. Luck, largely endorses a plan by American commanders in Iraq to shift the military's main mission after the Jan. 30 elections from fighting the insurgency to training Iraq's military and police forces to take over those security and combat duties and become more self-reliant, eventually allowing American forces to withdraw, the officials said.

The aim would be to double or even triple the number of trainers now at work with Iraqi security forces, up to as many as 8,000 or 10,000, though General Luck has not mentioned a specific number. A senior defense official who has been briefed on General Luck's initial conclusions and recommendations said the plan would draw on a mix of officers and senior enlisted troops from Army and Marine units already in Iraq.

Many commanders say that providing more trainers is meant to bolster the Iraqi will to fight, help train officers who would lead, curb desertion and provide Iraqi forces with the confidence that American units would back them up - in some cases fighting alongside them if needed, military and Pentagon officials said. Two American advisers have died fighting with Iraqi units.

But the training would follow a step-by-step approach that would take months if not years, proceeding at different paces in different parts of the country, depending on the troops' performance. American forces would work closely with Iraqis in the most dangerous parts of the country, but would still take the lead combat role there.

At her confirmation hearings this week, Condoleezza Rice, President Bush's nominee to be secretary of state, was repeatedly asked to defend the training program. Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware, the Foreign Relations Committee's ranking Democrat, dismissed as "malarkey" Ms. Rice's assertion, backed by commanders in Iraq, that 120,000 Iraqi troops had been trained.

General Luck is emphasizing that Americans tailor their assistance or partnership to an array of Iraqi security forces. Some need more advanced weapons and soldier training. Junior Iraqi officers in more capable units may need to hone leadership skills. The best Iraqi troops may need Americans to call in airstrikes, much as American Special Forces did for Afghan allies to help defeat the Taliban.

"Luck and the commanders are looking across this spectrum to see over time how do you start providing that enabling capability to make the Iraqis more self-reliant," said a senior defense official who has been briefed on General Luck's initial conclusions and recommendations.

As Iraqis take on more security responsibilities, General Luck is recommending that American troops be freed up to be quick-reaction forces to back up the Iraqis or to help tighten Iraq's borders, especially with Syria and Saudi Arabia, where foreign fighters and couriers carrying cash for the insurgency often cross with impunity. Ultimately, as overall security improved, American forces could draw down, officials said.

General Luck is also expected to recommend that American and other allied military officials fill several adviser positions in the Iraqi defense and interior ministries, that those ministries' responsibilities for various security forces be reassessed to ensure effective operations, and that American commanders be given greater flexibility on spending their budgets, defense officials said.

General Luck has updated Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, Gen. Richard B. Myers, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and other top defense officials a couple of times since Mr. Rumsfeld dispatched him to Iraq two weeks ago, said Lawrence Di Rita, the Pentagon spokesman. General Luck knows the operation in Iraq well, having been a senior adviser to Gen. Tommy R. Franks at his wartime headquarters in Qatar during the Iraq campaign in 2003. But he has a degree of independence as a retired general to recommend adjustments in policy. He is currently a senior adviser to the military's Joint Forces Command.

The most recent briefing was an hourlong secure videoconference on Friday morning, two defense officials said. General Luck is expected to brief top Pentagon officials again on Monday after refining his conclusions and recommendations with Gen. George W. Casey Jr., the top commander in Iraq, and Gen. John P. Abizaid, the overall commander of American forces in the Middle East.

A senior defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because General Luck has not yet presented Mr. Rumsfeld with his final assessment, said the general has not discussed in his briefings a timetable for withdrawing the 150,000 American forces now in Iraq.

General Luck's initial assessment comes after a week in which the training of Iraqi security forces dominated the discussion of Iraqi policy both here and in Baghdad.

On Tuesday, during the hearings for Ms. Rice, Senator Biden said that based on his interviews on trips in Iraq, the actual number of fully trained Iraqis was closer to 4,000. A day later, Iraqi's interim prime minister, Ayad Allawi, said he had been talking to American commanders in Baghdad about ways to speed the training and equipping of Iraqi forces, and would reveal plans this week for an accelerated buildup.

On Thursday, Vice President Dick Cheney laid out in spare terms the process for withdrawing troops. "Our goal now is to get the Iraqis in the business of self-governance, and we'll do that with an election here in about 10 days, and then also get them into the business where they can defend themselves," Mr. Cheney said on the MSNBC program "Imus in the Morning." "When we've done that, our mission is complete, and we can bring our boys home."

Some American units, like the First Infantry Division and the First Cavalry Division, have already increased their number of trainers and advisers in Iraqi units, defense officials said.

There are reasons for concern and optimism, military officials say.

"We have, in recent weeks, begun to see the impact of the past six months of investment in Iraqi security forces," Lt. Gen. David H. Petraeus, the American officer overseeing all Iraqi training, said in an e-mail message. "Our objective will be to help the Iraqis produce more such units, to continue their equipping, and to continue to raise the level of their training."

Brig. Gen. Carter Ham, commander of American forces in northern Iraq, said in an e-mail message on Friday: "The shifting of emphasis to developing Iraqi security forces as the first priority seems right. Shifting primary responsibility for conduct of counter-insurgency operations to Iraqi forces is necessary and proper."

To combat the insurgency and its intimidation campaign against Iraqi security forces, General Luck is expected to endorse plans already under way to house some Iraqi troops and their families inside military installations or assign them outside their home districts.

"This insurgency is not going to dry up and go away after the election, that's for sure," Maj. Gen. Joseph Taluto, commander of Task Force Liberty, a 20,000-soldier unit that will replace the First Infantry Division north of Baghdad next month, said in a telephone interview from Kuwait. "We will keep the insurgency at bay until we train the Iraqi security forces."

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It should be one of the highest priorities to get the Iraqi forces fully trained up so they can take responsibility for their own security and coalition forces can begin withdrawing.