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WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 9, 2008) - Iraqi soldiers and police are
demonstrating increased capability, yet more work needs to be done
in view of the continued terrorist threat in Iraq, a senior U.S.
military officer said at a Capitol Hill hearing today.
Iraq's security forces acquitted themselves well during recent
Iraqi-initiated anti-terrorist operations in Baghdad's Sadr City
section, Basra, Mosul and Amarah, Army Lt. Gen. James M. Dubik, the
former commander of Multinational Security Transition Command Iraq
and the NATO training mission in Iraq, said in testimony before the
House Armed Services Committee.
Army Lt. Gen. Frank Helmick took over command of MSTC-I from
Dubik on July 3. Dubik is slated to retire after 37 years of Army
service.
"Certainly, the Basra operation was off to a rough start, but
equally certain, is this: that the Basra operation was tactically
and strategically successful in the end, and that each of the other
major operations in Mosul, Sadr City and Amarah had been
progressively better," Dubik said at the House hearing.
Iraqi soldiers and police have gained confidence from those
successful operations, Dubik explained, noting that each operation
"cements in their minds the kinds of capabilities that they know
they have to develop" to achieve further success.
Dubik took command of Multinational Security Transition Command
Iraq and the NATO training mission in Iraq on June 10, 2007. Under
his leadership, the security transition command helped the Iraqi
military and police forces grow to nearly 185 army, national police
and special operations battalions. The forces under Iraq's
ministries of Interior and Defense now number more than
550,000.
The Iraqis have built 11 brigade headquarters and 35 battalions
over the past 12 months, Dubik reported. Overall Iraqi military
readiness ratings, as well as the number of Iraqi-conducted
patrols, are both trending upward, he added.
Also, polls show that Iraqi citizens' confidence in their
security forces has improved every month since November, the
general said.
Still, challenges remain, Dubik cautioned.
"The Iraqi security forces are still reliant on our enablers,"
Dubik pointed out. "Their training is basic; their leader shortages
still exist; and distribution of leaders is uneven.
"There are still pockets of sectarianism," he continued, "and
last, the problems of rapid growth that any nation would face are
evident in the Iraqi security forces."
Nonetheless, Iraqi soldiers and police are dedicated to achieve
added improvement, Dubik said, so that they can eventually take the
lead in security affairs in their country.
To ensure that gains achieved by last year's surge operations in
Iraq are maintained, "continued coalition advisory and training
teams, along with partnership units, is necessary, as is Iraqi
security-force funding," Dubik said.
"From my standpoint, we should not underestimate the difficulty
of the task remaining," the general emphasized. "The successes of
the past year-plus are significant, are dramatic, but can be
reversed, and they can be stymied."
Terrorists operating in Iraq "are still very active, as recent
reports have seen," the general observed. "They are still capable,
though in diminishing frequency, of conducting violent attacks
against the innocent."
Al-Qaida and other terrorists want to topple the Iraqi
government and reverse the security gains achieved over the past 15
months, Dubik said. The terrorists "have not given up, nor does
anyone expect them to," he noted. "They recognize that they have
lost the initiative, but they seek to regain it."
The Iraqi Defense and Interior ministries continue to increase
their annual budgeted expenditures for their country's military and
police, respectively, Dubik reported. And aggressive use of the
U.S. foreign military sales program "is helping to equip the Iraqi
security forces," he added, noting the Iraqis have bought more than
$1.4 billion in U.S. military equipment.
"This accelerated delivery has made important positive
contributions to the Iraqi security forces' capability," Dubik
said.
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