The Iraqi army and police are growing so fast that their forces enter battle with far less than the usual number of qualified officers, a senior US general said.
While a serious problem, it is not stopping the Iraqis from becoming "good enough" to partner with US troops in fighting the insurgency, Army Lieutenant General James Dubik said on Saturday.
"We still have very difficult problems with [Iraqi military unit] leaders -- very difficult," Dubik said in his first extensive interview since taking command of training and equipping Iraqi forces last month.
Too few have the right level of experience and a nonsectarian attitude, he said. This shortcoming is evident even as tens of thousands of new soldiers and police join the security forces.
The first priority is to get as many soldiers into battle as quickly as possible, Dubik said.
"What you can't produce at the same time ... [is] leaders. So you end up with units with about half the number of leaders they really need," he said, referring, for example, to unit leaders such as captains, majors and lieutenant colonels. "But that's sufficient. It's not ideal, but it's sufficient."
More broadly, Dubik said he was pleased with the rate of progress in building Iraq's defenses. He praised the Ministry of Interior in particular for taking steps to weed out officers with sectarian agendas.
Dubik, who arrived in Baghdad after serving as commander of the Army's 1st Corps, based at Fort Lewis, Washington, spoke for an hour in his office at the US embassy on the banks of the Tigris River.
He steered away from questions about the likely duration of the US troop buildup, but made clear that he sees Iraq's movement toward stability as a long-term project. He said emphatically that he believes the troop buildup, with its more aggressive approach to fighting the insurgency, needs to continue.
"If it stops today, we would give the initiative back to our enemies -- al-Qaeda and other extremists," he said. "It was fought over and died for and there's no reason to give it back right now."
"It would be definitely helpful to continue the pace of offensive operations for a while," he said. "How long that is, I don't know. And I don't think anyone knows."
Dubik said Iraq should get credit for assembling a mix of competent security forces in a relatively short time and under the pressures of constant combat.
Iraq's security forces number about 360,000; the total is supposed to reach 390,000 by year's end. Last December, there were 325,000, which was the Baghdad government's original goal. The government has since determined, with US agreement, that tens of thousands more are needed quickly.
"You can't grow a force this fast and have the right number of qualified leaders. You can't do it," Dubik said. "This is a problem now and it will be a problem for a good number of years."
Dubik said Iraqi forces are learning quickly through experience gained in the heat of battling insurgents.
"Battlefield survival -- professional Darwinism -- is teaching very good combat skills ... that will ultimately pay off throughout the force," he said, adding, "It's going to take time to mature."
Dubik said the hardest issue in developing Iraqi military leaders is finding enough with combat experience who are willing and able to resist acting on sectarian impulses.
"The skill set is easier to train than the mind set, there's no doubt," he said.
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the