| Submit your comments on this article |
| Iraq |
| Iraqi forces structure incomplete to protect borders – Dabbagh |
| 2010-08-20 |
| BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: The Iraqi forces’ structure are incomplete to protect the country’s borders and sovereignty, according to the Iraqi government’s official spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh on Thursday. “Iraq’s army forces cannot be built in one or two years. Until the year 2011, the Iraqi security forces would not be ready to protect the nation’s borders and sovereignty,” he said in an interview aired by the semi-official al-Iraqiya channel. The U.S. government had announced the end of its combat troops’ missions in Iraq and actually embarked on pulling out forces as of mid-August, and supposed to be completed by August 31. The U.S. military presence in Iraq, however, will be confined to logistical and training support for Iraqi forces as well as backup in the civilian field. Dabbagh pointed out that the pending issues regarding encroachments on Iraqi territories must be settled by the Iraqi government. “The political decision-making establishment in Iraq is taking into account the need to strike a balance between having U.S. forces to stay for a long time or facing a tough situation in which we have to defend the nation ourselves,” he said. The Iraqi army’s chief of staff, General Babakr Zebari, had said in a press conference a few days ago that the Iraqi army would not be capable of fully shouldering the security responsibilities before 2020, proposing that the U.S. army should stay in Iraq until the Iraqi army is completely ready. Zebari’s statements triggered varied reactions and concerns by some Iraqis who are afraid Iraq would slide into another cycle of violence, particularly with the delayed formation of a new government five months after the country’s second legislative elections since 2003 were held and the mounting differences among the winning blocs. |
| Posted by:Steve White |