General Gaskin: 2 more years needed to support Iraqi security forces

Above: Soldiers of Strike Force Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Brigade, 11th Iraqi Army Division prepare to enter a home while searching for explosive-making materials and unauthorized weapons in the Adhamiyah district of Baghdad last week.

Iraqi security forces will need years of mentoring and support from U.S. forces, a senior U.S. commander said on Friday, warning against an American withdrawal before local forces can operate independently.

Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Walter Gaskin, commander of U.S. troops in Iraq's vast western Anbar province... said Iraqi security forces still needed more experience so a U.S. withdrawal does not allow al Qaeda to regain ground.

"I see that experience happening every day, but I don't see it happening overnight," said Gaskin, speaking by video link from Iraq. "I believe it's another couple of years in order to get to that."

"And that's not a political answer. That's a military answer, and what it takes to train the young men and get the leadership that they need to be able to do what the army does -- protect its borders and provide for the sovereignty of this nation, to provide assistance to what's going on as far as counterinsurgency."

Read the rest at the Washington Post

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