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Iraqi forces unable to meet threat alone-Bremer
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-04-19 09:58

Iraqi forces alone will be unable to face the threat posed by insurgents after the U.S. coalition transfers power to Iraqis on June 30, U.S. administrator Paul Bremer said in a statement Sunday.

Bremer said the surge of violence and kidnappings in Iraq in the past two weeks illustrated the dangers.

"It is clear that Iraqi forces will not be able, on their own, to deal with these threats by June 30 when an Iraqi government assumes sovereignty," he said.

"Instead, Iraq and troops from many countries, including the United States will be partners in providing the security Iraqis need."

Ninety-nine U.S. soldiers have been killed in action this month -- more than the number of U.S. combat deaths in the three-week war that toppled Saddam. Hundreds of Iraqis have also died, many of them civilians.

Up to 50 foreigners have been kidnapped since April 8 and while many have been released, those holding four Italians have killed one hostage and have threatened to kill the others unless Italy withdraws its troops from Iraq.

The United States has trained and fielded more than 200,000 Iraqi security forces serving in police, civil defense units, border patrol and a new national army and site protection units.

But the process of setting up the armed forces has been fraught with problems.

Most members of the first Iraqi battalion to be set up quit within weeks due to dissatisfaction over pay and conditions. Many of the soldiers sent to fight in Falluja this month refused, saying they would not fight fellow Iraqis.

U.S. forces detained about 200 Iraqi paramilitary troops who refused to take part in the Falluja offensive, some Iraqi soldiers said.

U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Richard Myers said last week there were problems with the Iraqi troops' reliability.

"I'd characterize it as their performance has been uneven. But there are instances where they performed very well, and other instances where they've been less than perfect," he said.

In his statement Bremer noted incidents early in April when insurgents overran Iraqi police stations and seized public buildings and Iraqi forces were unable to stop them.

"If former members of the Republican Guards, the mukharabbat, the Fedayeen Saddam and the Moqtada's militia are to be prevented from shooting their way into power, Iraq's security forces must have help until they are fully equipped and trained. This is what the Coalition intends to do," Bremer said.

American military planners announced Wednesday 20,000 U.S. troops would be kept in Iraqi beyond their tour of duty into the summer. One senior U.S. defense official said the total U.S. force in Iraq would likely remain at more than 130,000 for another three months.

Spain, which had the sixth largest foreign contingent in Iraq, announced it would withdraw its troops soon and U.S. national security advisor Condoleezza Rice said she expected other members of the U.S.-led coalition would also reassess their deployment.

Sunday, a Sunni Kurd was named as the top general in Iraq's fledgling post-Saddam Hussein military, with a Sunni Arab as chief of staff and a Shi'ite Arab as his deputy.

The choice of a general from each of Iraq's three main ethnic and religious groups for the top three military posts reflected the efforts by the U.S.-led administration to avoid giving any one group dominance over the others.

 
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