WASHINGTON, Dec. 2, 2005 – Increasing numbers of Iraqi military and police are being trained, equipped and fielded to confront terrorists trying to destabilize the new Iraqi government, a senior U.S. military officer in Iraq said today. "Iraqi security forces are in the lead, right now," Army Lt. Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chief of Multinational Security Transition Command Iraq, told Pentagon reporters during a satellite news conference from Iraq. Dempsey's organization assists the Iraqi government in developing its security forces. Dempsey said about 225,000 Iraqi soldiers and police will be available to provide security for Iraq's Dec. 15 nationwide election....