Posted on 10/29/2005 6:31:58 AM PDT by kellynla
TIKRIT, Iraq — Seeking to lower the visibility of U.S. troops and grant more authority to Iraqi government forces, the American military has now ceded control of 27 of the nation's 109 bases, U.S. and Iraqi officials said.
Thousands of U.S. troops have been redeployed in recent months from bases in Najaf, Karbala, Tikrit and other cities, and Iraqis are now in charge of patrol areas that include four districts of Baghdad and the town of Taiji, northeast of the capital.
On Friday, American officials announced that the next major military installation expected to be transferred to Iraqi control was former President Saddam Hussein's palace complex in Tikrit. The site has been renamed Forward Operating Base Danger and currently houses more than 6,000 U.S. troops.
Iraqi and U.S. officials said they had quickened the pace of such security transfers in recent weeks and planned to formalize what had been an ad hoc, piecemeal approach.
"We've already handed over nine different areas north of Baghdad as part of a national plan," said Robert Holby, a State Department official assigned to Tikrit. "We want to put an Iraqi face on things. Everybody thinks that if we move away from the cities, this will make the violence go down."
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
• "The proposed districts must be relatively stable and free of insurgent activity and crime and must have a plan to confiscate unauthorized weapons from civilians.
• "The Iraqi security forces must be battle-ready and capable of undertaking counter-terrorism operations. The proposed areas must also have coordination plans for the national army, the local police and U.S.-led forces should a terrorist attack occur.
• "Districts must have an elected civilian government capable of managing the Iraqi security forces assigned there and functioning courts and detention facilities.
• "U.S.-led forces must retain the capability and authorization to respond to Iraqi-controlled areas if Iraqi security forces are overwhelmed by insurgents."
This has been the plan for a long time.
I predict by this time next year there will be only a handful of U.S. bases left (big ones though) and half the current personnel.
I think this time next year, we'll be sitting on the Syrian border.
But I suspect we'll have a large contingency in Iraq ad infinitum.
Semper Fi,
Kelly
I think we should have the Iraqis take over the toughest districts first. I'm sick of Americans dying first for these people. They want us out? Then they need to get off their butts so we can get the hell out!
I agree, just like the Iranians, it's way past time for the Iraqis to start "taking out their own trash!"
Our next stop on the way home will be Syria, so the Iraqis & Syrians better get their collective acts together soon.
This is truly great news, I know because I saw this last night, as the lead story on cnn, abc, nbc, cbs, msnbc, FOX, nooooooo, I was dreaming.
The msm does such a good job at not covering the major stories in Iraq, that one day they will wake up and find out that the entire country of Iraq is being secured by Iraqis, that both sadman and obl are dead, that alzarqawi moved to damascus, that the American troops are "invading syria" and that they missed the whole thing. It will still be Bush's fault and the new democracy in Iraq was created, based on lies, therefore it does not exist.
Pray for W and Our Victorious Troops
Pray for W and Our Troops
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