Re-evaluation of Iraqi Police and Military Training

Gen. Gary Luck (Ret) was sent to Iraq two weeks ago to assess the operations on the ground. His assessment so far has centered around providing more and faster training of Iraqi police and military forces. He argues that U.S. troops should double or triple the number of military advisors (up to 8000-10,000) that are currently training the Iraqi units. In his estimation, not enough is being done to increase the knowledge and skills of the Iraqi units so they are better able to conduct independent operations against the insurgents following the January 30 elections.

In her testimony last week before the Senate Armed Services Committee, SecState nominee Condoleeza Rice said that about 120,000 Iraqi troops have been trained by U.S. forces. Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware called that assertion "malarkey" and responded that in his own interviews with soldiers in Iraq and visitation with troops on the ground, the number of Iraqi forces that have been trained to an acceptable level is closer to 4000!!

What I find amazing is that the experts that the Bush administration sends to Iraq are now repeating some of the same assertions and conclusions that Sen. John Kerry pointed out to the American people during the campaign for President last fall. Kerry repeatedly claimed that the U.S. was not doing enough to prepare Iraqi forces to take over responsibilities on the ground in Iraq, and that U.S. forces should step up training to better prepare Iraqis to fight the insurgency. His proposal, if he were elected, centered around increasing this training so that U.S. troops could come home sooner. Obviously, his assessment of the situation on the ground was correct, and our DoD has repeatedly failed to use the appropriate strategies to protect our troops and to get them home sooner. Should Donald Rumsfeld be held accountable? It certainly seems that way more and more often.