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WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 25, 2008) - An Iraqi organization tasked
with consolidating and coordinating that country's counterterrorism
effort is now capable of conducting unilateral missions, a U.S.
military official said yesterday.
"[The Iraqi National Counterterrorism Force's] primary mission
is to synchronize and focus all elements of Iraqi national power to
defeat terrorism here in Iraq," U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Simeon
Trombitas, director of the Iraqi National Counterterrorism Force
Transition Team, told online journalist and bloggers.
The Iraqi unit was formed in 2003 and has since been trained by
U.S. Special Forces soldiers, Trombitas said.
While U.S. forces still train with the specialized Iraqi force
and conduct missions with the Iraqis, they're now capable of
running their own missions with limited U.S. help, he said.
"They're comfortable, at this point in time, doing unilateral
operations, even without some of our enablers," Trombitas
explained. "I think that they're well on the road to conducting the
majority of their operations."
Trombitas attributed the Iraqis' capability to the high level of
training they receive from U.S. Special Forces soldiers.
"They are trained to a high level," Trombitas said. "Our Special
Forces have a high level of confidence in them. They never hesitate
to run a mission with each other, and I think that speaks highly of
their capability and our guys' trust in them."
The Iraqi counterterrorism force's demanding selection process
is similar to that of U.S. Army Special Forces, he said.
"Those things that we expect of our Rangers and Special Forces
are the type of things we train [the Iraqis] in," Trombitas
said.
The Iraqi National Counterterrorism Force headquarters is
located in Baghdad, but the organization's leaders are planning to
expand capabilities by moving to four other locations throughout
the country. The cities include Mosul, Basra, Asad, and Diyala.
"These capabilities will allow us to plan, execute, synchronize
air assault operations on multiple objectives, and give us the
ability to infiltrate, ex-filtrate, and have casualty evacuation,"
Trombitas said.
Right now, there are four operational battalions, a training
battalion, and a support battalion.
Trombitas stressed that, while there are no plans for any more
battalions, there is a possibility that leaders will split the
headquarters due to the size of the battalions.
As a result of the long presence U.S. forces have had in Iraq,
Trombitas said he can envision working with Iraqi National
Counterterrorism Force troops in the future on other
operations.
"Right now there is a battalion of Salvadorians in combat here
in Iraq, ... and they're here due to our long presence in working
with them," he said. "I foresee that in the future of Iraq."
He also lauded the U.S. forces who had a hand in training the
Iraqi units. "Our Special Forces are the best in the world, and I
think they've exemplified that," Trombitas said. "I'm just awful
proud of our effort and theirs in conducting counterterrorism
operations."
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