26 May 2006
Coalition Colonel Sees Optimism and Opportunity in Iraq
Increasingly capable Iraqi security forces keeping peace in southern Baghdad
By David McKeeby
Washington File Staff Writer
Washington – Increasingly effective counterinsurgency operations by coalition-trained Iraqi security forces are prompting optimism about the country’s future for Army Colonel Michael Beech of Multinational Force Baghdad.
These new Iraqi security forces are “stepping out with more pride and confidence daily,” and “are earning the respect of the population which they protect,” said Beech in May 26 teleconference linking him from his command post in Baghdad, Iraq, to the Pentagon briefing room.
Since January, Beech’s 4th Brigade Combat Team has been responsible for joint counterinsurgency operations, training of Iraqi military and police forces, and support for local governments in southern and central Baghdad.
In addition to 4,400 U.S. troops, Beech’s command also includes an infantry battalion from the Republic of Georgia and is partnered with the 2,000-strong 5th Brigade of the Iraqi Army, which maintains security in an adjoining territory, and six battalions of Iraq’s national police force and 12 local police stations.
Beech told reporters that forces under his command, operating in densely populated areas of southern Baghdad and in outlying suburban and rural regions, encounter people from all walks of Iraqi life as well as the full gamut of security threats. (See related article.)
“What type of membership card they have in their pocket is really not important to me,” Beech said of individuals engaged in insurgent or terrorist attacks, criminal activity, or sectarian violence. Working with Iraqi security forces, he said, his forces are “out there prosecuting those targets every day to neutralize those that are preying on innocent Iraqi civilians.”
Beech said that coalition and Iraqi forces partnered with police in the Dora section of Baghdad to negate activities by local insurgent and criminal groups. That effort resulted in a significant drop in the area’s murder rate for two consecutive weeks.
“I meet with my Iraqi security force counterparts every week, and we look at the problems holistically,” Beech said. “We look at how we can partner to solve these problems.”
Iraqi security forces’ knowledge of the area and ability to work more closely with local authorities are among new techniques that have proven invaluable to keeping the peace, Beech said. (See related article.)
Because of their capabilities, “we are not doing more with less, but we are doing more with more,” he said. They know the locals, the neighborhoods and what looks right,” Beech added.
Thanks to intense focus on training and coordination, Iraqi security forces will continue progressing toward full control of counterinsurgency operations, Beech said, and they will create conditions by which the new Iraqi unity government can fully establish the rule of law. (See related article.)
Following the May 20 inauguration, Beech said the new government has been working in tandem with the security forces “to neutralize this insurgency.”
Having survived years of tyranny and worked to build a democracy during the past three years, Beech said the resiliency and resolve of the Iraqi people make him “ever more optimistic” about their future.”
The transcript of Beech’s briefing is available on the Department of Defense Web site.
For more information, see Iraq Update.
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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