Jones Commission: U.S. should lighten profile in Iraq, but Iraqi forces 12-18 months away from taking control of security

Above: A civilian instructor adjusts the sights on an Iraqi soldier's new M16A2 rifle during a basic rifle marksmanship course in Taji last week.

Iraq's security forces cannot stand alone: US report

Iraq's military is at least 12-18 months away from assuming combat duties from US soldiers...

The report by Marine General James Jones, the former top US commander in Europe, was the latest in a flurry of progress updates on the unpopular Iraq mission, in a pivotal 10-day period for US policy in the war-torn nation.

President George W. Bush's administration has made training and equipping Iraqi forces a key goal in Iraq, seeing their capacity to eventually fight alone as the pathway to US troop withdrawals.

In its report, a 20-member commission chaired by Jones said Iraqi forces were improving, "but not at a rate sufficient to meet their essential security responsibilities."

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Iraqi Army incapable of acting independently

The 20-member panel also said today that the Iraqi Army was incapable of acting independently from US forces for at least another 18 months, and “cannot yet meaningfully contribute to denying terrorists safe haven”...

The 152-page report was demanded by Congress as an independent assessment of the situation in Iraq before next week’s pivotal testimony by General David Petraeus, the US ground commander, and Ryan Crocker, the US Ambassador in Baghdad.

General Jones’s report appeared to turn President Bush’s Iraq strategy on its head. Mr Bush has said repeatedly that the purpose of the “surge” was to provide a security “breathing space” to aid political reconciliation. But the commission said that genuine security advances were impossible without political progress first. “All progress seems to flow from this most pressing requirement,” the report states.

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Study: US should lower profile in Iraq

A panel of retired senior military and police officers recommended Thursday that the United States lighten its footprint in Iraq to counter the image that it's an "occupying force."

The panel said significantly reducing the number of U.S. troops and allowing Iraqi forces to take over more daily combat missions by early next year would be "possible and prudent."

"The force footprint should be adjusted in our view to represent an expeditionary capability and to combat a permanent-force image of today's presence," said retired Marine Corps Gen. James Jones, who led the 20-member commission.

"This will make an eventual departure much easier," Jones told the Senate Armed Services Committee.

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Independent US Panel Says Iraq More Than a Year Away From Handling Security

A report by a panel of retired senior U.S. military officers has concluded that Iraq's security forces will not be able to take over the country's security from U.S. troops for 12 to 18 months. The report was released to Congress Thursday, just days before the Bush administration is to present its own assessment of the situation in Iraq...

Retired Marine General James Jones, who heads the commission established by Congress, says Iraqi security forces have a mixed record of success.

"This Iraqi army cannot yet operate independently due to a continuing lack of logistics, supply, mobility and effective national command and control," he said. "While it cannot defend against external threats to the nation, particularly along the borders of Syria and Iran, it is able to do more each day responding to threats along the lines of internal security."

In testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee, Jones praised gains made by the Iraqi army in its ability and willingness to defend against internal threats to the nation. He called Iraq's special forces the most capable and effective unit in Iraq and as good as any in the Gulf region, but said they still lack mobility and support systems...

Jones underscored the importance of Iraqi political consensus in stemming the violence.

"The most positive event that can occur in the near term to influence progress in Iraq is a government-led political reconciliation, which leads to an end for a dramatic reduction in sectarian violence," he said. "Everything seems to flow from this point, to include the likelihood of a successful conclusion to our mission."

Congressional opponents and supporters of the U.S. military involvement in Iraq were quick to seize on various aspects of the commission findings to bolster their arguments.

The chairman of the committee, Democratic Senator Carl Levin of Michigan noted that the commission expressed concern about what it calls a massive U.S. military logistical "footprint" in Iraq, which could send the unintended message that the United States is an occupying force.

Levin, who has called for a timetable for a withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq, also pressed General Jones about the panel's recommendation about a redeployment to counter such perceptions.

"You say that significant reductions, consolidations and realignments appear to be possible and prudent, is that your finding," Levin asked.

"Yes," Jones replied.

But Senator John McCain, a supporter of the war effort who is seeking the Republican nomination for president, argued that setting a timetable for pulling out U.S. troops could undermine progress made in Iraq as he led into an exchange with General Jones.

"Do you believe that if we just set a timeframe for withdrawal that that would be in the United States' interest in the region," asked Senator McCain.

"Senator, speaking for myself on this, I think deadlines can work against us," Jones said.

This is the latest in a series of reports to Congress on the war effort ahead of the Bush administration's report to lawmakers next week by the top commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, and U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker. The administration has urged members of Congress to wait for that status report before making their own assessments of the situation in Iraq.

From VOA News

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