Thirteen Iraqi battalions can operate alone-UK

[Barrett808]

LONDON, Nov 28 (Reuters) - Thirteen of the 112 Iraqi army battalions are capable of battling insurgents without U.S. or British help, a British minister said on Tuesday.

These battalions were capable of "planning, executing and sustaining counter-insurgency operations" on their own, Armed Forces Minister Adam Ingram said in a written reply to a question from a British legislator.

An Iraqi army battalion has roughly 500 soldiers.

A further 78 battalions required "only minimal support" in areas such as planning or logistics, he said.

"The remainder operate in conjunction with coalition units or are undergoing earlier stages of formation and basic training," he said.

A year ago, only one Iraqi battalion was capable of operating independently of coalition forces while 13 could operate with minimal support, Ingram said.

(more)

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L2865586.htm

[IndianaGreen]

1. Well, why aren't they operating alone?

Why are the Brits hunkered down in Basrah under constant attack?

[Barrett808]

2. "Independent" is a malleable term

One could argue that the Iraqi military is already operating independently...just not in a "counterinsurgency" role.

[Kagemusha]

3. Because the Brits don't know who the target would then be?

And that it might even turn out to be the Brits themselves?

Just speculating..

[IndianaGreen]

10. Do you get the feeling that some of those trainees join the insurgency

The desertion rate for Iraqi forces is sky high, and recently we have seen press reports of well disciplined Iraqi insurgent units going head on against our troops.

[AlamoDemoc]

4. seems to me UK army is putting news out there that its ok now to leave Basra..CYA, before you leave!

[IndianaGreen]

8. You could be right there. This could very well be a CYA exercise

providing a fig leaf for the Brits to pull out of Iraq by the end of next year.

[AlamoDemoc]

11. Indeed...

[alcibiades_mystery]

5. The New Iraqi Army is so rotton with Shia militia that it may as well be under command

of al Sadr.

That they can "operate independently" isn't exactly good news, given that context.

The Iraq War: Taking dictatorial power from the secular Sunni to give it to the radical fundamentalist Shia.

Great fucking idea, DC braintrust! Assholes.

[The Magistrate]

6. Indeed, Sir: That Is It In A Nutshell

[Warren Stupidity]

15. Meanwhile we seem to be switching sides.

Or at least standing back while the sunni militias in al anbar organize for their war on everything shiite. Ah what a wonderful plan. Not only did we break most everything in the china shop, we are now actively lighting fires.

[AIJ Alom]

7. Let's do some math.

We have 13 independent Iraqi battalions, 78 semi-independent Iraqi battalions, and 112-(13+78)= 21 dependent Iraqi battalions.

13x500 = 6,500 fully independent Iraqi troops.
78x500 = 39,000 semi-independent Iraqi troops.
21x500 = 10,500 dependent Iraqi troops.

For a whopping total of 6500+39000+10500 = 56,000 Iraqi troops.

And 56,000 Iraqi troops are going to succeed where 150,000 American soldiers have not ? What's worse is that this information is based on British military assessment, which in all likelihood is biased toward positivity and we have no idea where these men's allegiance lies.

Once we withdraw, tomorrow, next year, or three years from now, expect a bloody civil war. It's inevitable, much like our own conflict of north and south 145 years ago.

[Roland99]

9. Doesn't that mean 13 US battalions can stand down as they are standing up?

Or is there some even newer Bizarro World logic going on in the land of Bushco?

[daleo]

12. But whose side will they be on? n/t

[Auntie Bush]

13. Sounds like we are training the enemy to fight against us.

Good move bush*! Gatta hand it to ya! No one could have done the job better...except maybe Cheney and Rummy.

[Warren Stupidity]

14. They can operate on their own against the other side. nt.

[leftofthedial]

16. even if I believed them (which I don't)

and I didn't know that the Iraqi forces are just an adjunct of the Shia militia (which they are)

they're saying we've now (after three years and about half a trillion dollars) trained 6500 Iraqis

so, to replace the US troops, even if 1 Iraqi could replace 1 American (which they can't)

we'll need 61 and a half more years and 10.3 trillion more 2006 dollars before our troops can come home.


In other words, at the current rate, and with the current "we stand down when they stand up" plan, the US will be out of Iraq in 2068, at a cost of 64,500 dead Americans, 12 million-plus dead Iraqis and 11 trillion dollars.

Gotta love repuke foreign policy.

[delores58]

17. Thirteen Iraqi Battalions

I feel the United States would be better off if the Iraqi battalions ratio capable of battling insurgents were much higher!