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Iraq: We ready for US to go
15/07/2007 10:05 - (SA)
Baghdad - Iraq will be ready to take over security from US forces "any time" they decide to withdraw, although its police and army still need more training, Iraqi
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said in remarks over the weekend.
US public opinion has turned firmly against the war and lawmakers voted last week to bring combat troops home soon.
Maliki told a news conference on Saturday he was serious about improving the quality of the country's police and army "so
the forces can be better prepared ... when international forces
decide to reduce their numbers or withdraw".
At that time, Iraq's forces would be up to the task.
"We say with full confidence we are able, God willing, to
shoulder the complete responsibility in administering the
security portfolio if the international forces withdrew, at any
time they wish," he said.
Iraq has around 350 000 army and police, but US commanders
warn it will be months before they are ready to take over in the
parts of the country where US and Iraqi forces are currently
fighting militants and insurgents.
In addition, Marine Corp General Peter Pace, chairman of the
US joint chiefs of staff, said on Friday that war fatigue had
reduced the number of Iraqi army battalions that could operate
independently of the US to six from 10.
Unease in the United States has deepened with mounting US
casualties and Maliki's failure to make headway on security and
political goals designed to dampen sectarian violence that has
pushed the country to the brink of civil war.
The Democrat-controlled House of Representatives voted last
week to bring combat troops home by April, although the move was
largely symbolic, as President George W Bush has vetoed previous
efforts to impose a timetable on the war.
- Reuters
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