Iraqi security forces playing lead roles

WASHINGTON – A growing number of Iraqi troop battalions – nearly four dozen as of this week – are playing lead roles in the fight against the insurgency, and American commanders have turned over more than two dozen U.S.-established bases to Iraqi government control, officials said Monday.

Those are among the signs of progress that the Bush administration is citing as evidence that the Iraqis not only want more responsibility on the security front but are capable of handling it with less assistance from U.S. troops.

The steps toward lessening the U.S. military role in Iraq come amid mounting political pressure on the Bush administration to reduce the American presence in the face of rising casualties and an unrelenting insurgency.

There are now about 160,000 U.S. troops in Iraq. They have trained and equipped about 212,000 Iraqi security forces, including infantry, commandos, special police battalions and a variety of military support units. The figure is supposed to reach 230,000 by mid-December and top out at 325,000 by July 2007.

Pentagon officials acknowledge there are significant gaps in the Iraqis’ ability to defend their own country. They are unwilling to commit to any specific drawdown of U.S. forces next year, beyond the announced plan to pull back 28,000 troops who were added this fall for extra security during upcoming elections.

Many in Congress have expressed worry at what they see as sluggish progress in training Iraqi security forces, even as U.S. commanders insist that measures of progress have been widely misunderstood.

In late September, some members of Congress reacted with surprise and dismay when Gen. George Casey, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, testified that the number of Iraqi battalions rated at the highest level of readiness had dropped from three to one. That number apparently has not changed, but U.S. officials say the Iraqis don’t need to reach that top level before they are competent enough to take over for American troops.

Lt. Col. Fred Wellman, a spokesman in Baghdad for the U.S. command responsible for the training and equipping of Iraqi security forces, said Monday that approximately 130 Iraqi army and special police battalions are fighting the insurgency. Of the 130, about 45 are rated as “in the lead,” with varying degrees of reliance on U.S. support. The exact numbers are classified as secret, but the 45 figure is about five higher than the number given Nov. 7 at a briefing by Lt. Gen. David Petraeus, who previously led the training mission. And it is about 10 higher than the figure Petraeus offered at a Pentagon briefing Oct. 5.

An Iraqi battalion usually numbers between 700 and 800 soldiers.

As another measure of progress, Wellman said about 33 Iraqi security battalions are now in charge of their own “battle space,” including parts of Baghdad. That figure was at 24 in late October. Wellman said it stood at three last March.