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Iraqi Government To Take Control Of Iraqi
Armed Forces
7.9.2006 |
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BAGHDAD, Iraq,
September 7 , -- The United States was set on
Thursday to hand over formal command of Iraqi troops
to Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's government, a
significant step toward the withdrawal of some
150,000 U.S.-led foreign troops.
The spokesman for the U.S. military in Iraq, U.S.
Major General William Caldwell, said the importance
of the handover on Thursday was "gigantic."
Maliki, a Shi'ite Islamist, expects Iraqi forces to
control most of the country's provinces by the end
of the year, but analysts have questioned that
timetable.
The U.S.-led coalition has been training and
equipping the Iraqi military with the goal of making
it capable of ensuring security across Iraq.
They say Iraqi security forces remain heavily
dependent on U.S. troops for logistical support to
combat a Sunni insurgency and sectarian violence
that kills an estimated 100 people a day.
Questions have been raised over the preparedness of
Iraq's 130,000-strong army after Shi'ite gunmen in
the south killed some 20 Iraqi soldiers in street
clashes last month and the refusal of Shi'ite troops
to be deployed in religiously mixed Baghdad to shore
up a U.S.-led security clampdown.
Once Iraqi troops take command, their sectarian
loyalties will be sorely tested as Maliki struggles
to contain soaring communal violence since the
bombing of a Shi'ite shrine in February pushed the
country to the brink of civil war.
Reuters | compiled from agency reports
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