Iraqi forces will improve dramatically: US General

Washington, Dec 20: Iraqi security forces will improvedramatically next year and become more willing to deploy in hot spotssuch as Baghdad, the top US commander in charge of training Iraqitroops predicted today.

Army Lt Gen. Martin Dempsey also backed increasing the number ofUS military trainers embedded with Iraqi units -- a proposal of thebipartisan Iraq Study Group which has also been endorsed by the top USregional commander.

President George W Bush is conducting a major review of his Iraqpolicy but one of Washington's central goals is training Iraqi forcesto allow US troops to withdraw.

The capability of Iraqi army and police units has been widelyquestioned as violence has increased despite the training of more than3,00,000 security personnel and US commanders have not reduced theirforce of some 1,35,000 troops in Iraq.

But Dempsey said the Iraqi forces would improve greatly as theydeveloped more capabilities to support themselves without US backup andacquired better equipment.

''I think the progress you'll see among the legitimate Iraqisecurity forces here in the next six months will be dramatic,'' Dempseytold Pentagon reporters by videolink from Iraq.

Commanders also have struggled to get Iraqi units to deploy todanger areas such as Baghdad, the center of much of the country'ssectarian, insurgent and al Qaeda violence.

Absenteeism has risen to more than 50 per cent in units ordered tocombat zones outside their normal areas, said a Pentagon report for theUS Congress released yesterday.

Dempsey said US and Iraqi officials had taken measures to makeIraqi troops more willing to deploy such as providing more training,offering financial incentives and making clear how long the units wouldbe expected to serve.

''And I'll let you know if it's going to work here, because we'vegot two or three brigade headquarters and six additional battalionsthat are scheduled now over the next couple of months to come toBaghdad,'' Dempsey said.

''I think you're going to see that they come when you train themto come, give them some incentive and give them some information butwe'll see,'' said Dempsey, who heads the US military's Multi-NationalSecurity Transition Command-Iraq.

The Iraq Study Group, a high-level panel of veterans of Americanpublic life, has recommended increasing the number of US trainersembedded with Iraqi units to between 10,000 and 20,000 from 3,000 to4,000 now.

Army Gen John Abizaid, the top US commander for the West Asia, hasalso advocated boosting the training effort but not yet presentedconcrete proposals. Dempsey said the US military was working on preciseplans but he backed the idea.

''I think that growing the size of the transition teams makes a great deal of sense,'' he said.

Reuters