Pittard: 'A couple of years' before Iraqis can provide full security

Above: Iraqi army soldiers training under the guidance of U.S. soldiers near Baghdad in May.

Iraqi security forces are becoming less sectarian and more capable, but the U.S. should not be in a hurry to hand over control before they are ready, an American commander said Monday.

Since last fall, Iraqis have cleaned out some of the sectarian bias from the national police force, removing many Shia commanders and replacing them with Sunnis, said Army Brig. Gen. Dana Pittard, who heads the day-to-day program for training Iraqi forces.

"The growth of the Iraqi security forces over the past couple of years has really been quite dramatic in many ways," he said, but it will still be "a couple of years" before they can fully take control of Iraq security...

Since last fall, Iraqis have worked to improve a national police force known for being overwhelmingly Shia and for its sectarian bent, Pittard told a Pentagon news conference. They removed seven of nine brigade commanders — five because of "sectarian bias. One of two division commanders is now Sunni, as are four of nine brigade commanders and 8 or 10 of the 27 battalion commanders, Pittard said by video conference from Iraq.

Read the rest at the International Herald Tribune

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