Iraqi Security Crews Getting Less Training
"When the United States announces a schedule for training and deploying Iraqi security officers, then announces the acceleration of that schedule, then accelerates it again, it sends a signal of desperation, not certitude," Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said Wednesday at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington. "When in the course of days we increase by thousands our estimate of the numbers of Iraqis trained, it sounds like somebody is cooking the books."
"Iraqi police, whose ranks were reported at about 35,000 through August and September, soared to 60,000 last week, according to figures prepared by the Coalition Provisional Authority and the Pentagon's Joint Staff. In a single week between Oct. 27 and Nov. 4, the number of guards reported in the Facilities Protection Service nearly doubled, from 18,700 to 36,000. So did the size of the Border Patrol, which went from 6,500 to 11,600 troops. "
"Addressing the issue again yesterday, Rumsfeld said that although Iraqi forces lack the training and equipment of U.S. troops, they have other advantages. "They do speak the language, they do live in the neighborhood, they do have situational awareness," he said, adding that the Iraqis are gaining experience through joint patrols with U.S. and coalition troops. "
Rumsfeld has a valid point here in regards to thier knowledge of the country, but the fact remains that these forces are far less trained than the South Vietnamese forces we put in place during Vietnamization who promptly collapsed after we left. All a numbers game aimed seemingly more at the US domestic audience to produce an impression of progress for the willing viewers of Fox News channel rather than producing a real security capability. Look....we filled Iraq with the equivalent of grocery store security guards...hoorayyy for us!!!!!!!!!!!!
:disgust: