March 13, 2006
Progress in Iraq: The Human Variable
Obviously those who say that there is no progress in Iraq don't read beyond the NY Times and Washington Post front pages. Take this article from Stars and Stripes. Think we'll be reading about this in the MSM?
While some Iraqi army units outside the capital remain months away from operating independently, Iraqi units in the core of Baghdad are among the country’s most developed, forging a path that many U.S. and Iraqi officials hope will lead to nationwide stability and the eventual drawdown of U.S. forces here.
That's been the plan all along, hasn't it? To help the Iraqi government and military stand alone? The problem is, you can't put an exact time on how long it will take.
Like many Iraqi army leaders, those here in Baghdad say they still depend on American air support for large-scale operations. They also say they need more heavy weapons, more vehicles, more high-tech communications equipment.
“We can do these patrols, but the coalition forces cannot leave us until we get enough power. Help from the coalition is still required,” said Col. Abbas Rihy El Azauwi, commander of an Iraqi battalion that borders the International Zone.
When a child first signs up for swimming lessons, is it possible to predict that he will be a competent swimmer in six months? A year? Two years? No. We can't predict something like that because it involves a human variable. The Iraqi army is the same. They're trying, but they're rebuilding an entire army from scratch -- using men, not machines.
U.S. soldiers are working with Iraqis to create training programs to help them maintain the progress they have gained working with the Americans. That includes not only designing training programs but helping the Iraqis develop a permanent rhythm of assigning some soldiers to public security duties while sending others to training programs.
“These are all new concepts for them because they didn’t think about them to this level of detail,” said Maj. Bill McClary, who heads a battalion-level military transition team.
Time frames for U.S. troop withdrawal remain hazy, but the process for carefully weaning the Iraqi army units from American support may be in sight.
“The goal for [the U.S. troops] is ‘How do we write ourselves out of the equation?’” McClary said.
And that's a decision I'd like to see made by military leaders who know what they're doing, not a bunch of yahoos in Congress trying to score political points.
Show Comments
