U.S. Forces Look Into Leaving Iraqi Cities - Train Iraqi's for checkpoints

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Thu Sep-18-03 09:37 AM
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U.S. Forces Look Into Leaving Iraqi Cities - Train Iraqi's for checkpoints

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/news/news-iraq-usa-troops.html

September 18, 2003
U.S. Forces Look Into Leaving Iraqi Cities
By REUTERS Filed at 9:35 a.m. ET

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The top U.S. commander in Iraq said on Thursday he was looking at whether he could pull his troops out of some cities and would do so right away if it was clear local security forces were ready to take over."We would be willing to do that immediately if those conditions existed anywhere in the country," said Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez, the commander of the 150,000-strong U.S.-led task force charged with stabilizing postwar Iraq."We are looking at that right now to see if there are some cities where... the capacity is already in place and we'd be more than glad to begin to move out of there," he said.Sanchez told a news briefing U.S. troops would move to locations outside the cities but would still be ready to assist local police and other security forces as necessary.The general's comments came amidst a drive by Washington to accelerate the transfer of security duties to Iraqis as daily guerrilla attacks on U.S. forces show no signs of subsiding and the financial cost of occupying Iraq mounts.<snip>

Iraq's U.S.-led administration now hopes to train up to 40,000 Iraqi soldiers within a year -- twice as quickly as originally planned, Walter Slocombe, a senior official overseeing the program, said at the Pentagon on Wednesday.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Iraq-New-Army.html

September 18, 2003 New Iraq Army to Cost $2 Billion to Build
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Filed at 8:13 a.m. ET WASHINGTON (AP) -- At an estimated cost next year of $2 billion, the United States plans to build, virtually from scratch, a new Iraqi army of 30,000 to 40,000 soldiers.In presenting a detailed outline of the plan, the senior adviser to the U.S. occupation authority in Iraq said Wednesday that everything from guns and uniforms to trucks and toilets must be bought for an Iraqi army that will comprise mainly infantry, with little armor or artillery.<snip>

The first group of about 800 Iraqi soldiers is due to finish its training next month. Slocombe said at a Pentagon news conference that the goal is to have the 30,000 to 40,000 soldiers trained and operating within a year. That, he said, is half the time U.S. authorities initially believed raising an army of that size would take.<snip>

The Iraqis are being trained for less demanding tasks such as providing security for vehicle convoys and manning checkpoints, he said, adding that eventually it will be of sufficient size and sophistication to defend all of Iraq's territory from potential outside threats.<snip>

The money is part of an $87 billion request to cover military and reconstruction costs in Iraq as well as Afghanistan in the budget year starting Oct. 1. Of that total, $55 billion would be for Iraq, including $20 billion for civilian reconstruction and security and $35 billion for U.S. military costs.President Bush announced the $87 billion request on Sept. 7, but it was not submitted to Congress until Wednesday.The training of the Iraqi infantry is being done by employees of the Vinnell Corp., a Fairfax, Va.-based subsidiary of defense contractor Northrop Grumman Corp. Overseeing their work is Army Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton, who had been the commander in charge of training U.S. infantry.<snip>