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Iraq's top commander says his troops can take over
cities from U.S. troops in six month
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraqi troops need six more
months before they can take control of cities and
towns, Iraq's army chief said Thursday. Afterward,
It would still need help from U.S. and other foreign
forces to protect the country's borders.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Gen.
Babaker Shawkat Zebari said he was optimistic about
prospects for bolstering the capabilities of Iraq's
security forces - a key U.S. goal as the White House
comes under domestic political pressure to reduce
the American military commitment here.
"God willing, during this year, our units will be
fully armed, trained and have enough soldiers,"
Zebari, an ethnic Kurd, said. "After all this is
finished, I am very optimistic that the Iraqi army
will be able to protect the territories and border."
Zebari said that if Iraqi forces continue to
improve, "we will be able to protect Iraqi cities
and villages within six months."
Pentagon officials hope to accelerate the training
of Iraqi security forces after the Sunday national
elections so that they can assume the main role in
fighting the insurgency. That would enable
Washington to begin bringing home the 15,000 U.S.
troops.
In remarks prepared for delivery at Johns Hopkins
University, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy said the U.S.
military presence in Iraq "has become part of the
problem, not part of the solution" and that the
United States needs to work with the Iraqis "on a
specific timetable for the honorable homecoming of
our forces."
On Wednesday, however, the top U.S. commander here,
Gen. George Casey, said Iraqi forces were not ready
to take over the fight against the insurgents and
there was no guarantee they would ever be able to do
so.
But Zebari said he was hopeful that over the next
six months, the insurgents could be weakened
militarily as Iraqi forces grow in confidence and
capability.
Nevertheless, Iraq would still need U.S. help even
after Iraqi troops and police assume the main
responsibility for protecting Baghdad and other
major cities.
"The Iraqi army should benefit from presence of
coalition or multinational bases to protect from any
border violation by any country," Zebari said.
According to Zebari, Iraqi authorities in the past
three weeks have detained 2,000 insurgents,
including foreigners from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Syria
and Yemen. He added that 95 percent of the suicide
attacks in the country are carried out by
foreigners.
As Sunday's elections draw nearer, insurgents
attacks have been increasing in an attempt to scare
people away from the polls. Flyers distributed in
Baghdad and elsewhere warn that the insurgents will
"wash the streets of Baghdad" with voters' blood on
Sunday.
The government has taken tight security measures
starting Friday such as a 7:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m., a
ban on driving on elections day in addition to
closing the border and airport.
"There are threats. There are suicide attackers and
terrorists and we do not say they are not dangerous
but we have exerted all we can to find safe ground
so that the voter can vote," Zebari said.
In an attempt to bolster its fighting capabilities,
Zebari said the Iraqi military was buying weapons
from former Soviet Bloc nations, mainly Poland and
Ukraine. Iraq's old army used Soviet equipment and
officers and sergeants are more familiar with those
system.
Earlier this month, Deputy Defense Minister Ziad
Cattan visited Poland where he signed a US$20
million deal to buy weapons from the state-owned
arms company Bumar PHZ.
AP
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