Free Republic

WASHINGTON, June 28, 2006 – The U.S. general in charge of training Iraqi security forces told reporters here yesterday that effort has made significant progress and remains on track. Army Lt. Gen. Martin E. Dempsey said defense establishment systems are in place and the Iraqis are learning how to work within them. "There is a pay system, there is a promotion system, there is a personnel accountability system, there is a contracting system -- and I could go on and on. In any ministry-level endeavor, there's probably 18 or so processes that have to be functioning in order for the...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 29, 2005 – U.S. and coalition initiatives to create well-trained and -equipped Iraqi security forces are paying off, with Iraqis taking on more of the fight, a U.S. Central Command general said Nov. 28 at the Heritage Foundation here. "Iraqi security forces are fighting hard. They're fighting well. They are not cracking under pressure, as you see in some armies, and they are making a tremendous contribution," Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, CENTCOM's deputy director of plans and strategy, told the audience. Kimmitt, who divides his time between Iraq and CENTCOM's Tampa headquarters, said Iraq's security forces, which now...