21 July 2006
Iraqi Security Forces Take On Insurgency in Nineveh
U.S. army colonel says coalition training includes literacy component as needed
Washington – Iraqi security forces now pose a credible threat to insurgents operating in Nineveh province, according to a coalition commander familiar with their daily operations.
U.S. Army Colonel Michael Shields, appearing via videoconference from Baghdad, Iraq, told reporters at a July 21 Pentagon press briefing that the 18,000 Iraqi army soldiers and 18,000 Iraqi police patrolling the streets in the northwestern province of Nineveh are making a difference.
Shields commands the Army’s 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, which works with German and Iraqi forces to keep the peace. The brigade’s 4,400 personnel distributed throughout the province guide, train and support Iraqi army, police and border patrol units.
With coalition training and equipment, as well as more joint army-police operations, Iraqi security forces are becoming more proficient and capable against their opponents, Shields said.
As evidence of their increasing capabilities, he said the 2nd Brigade of the Iraqi army’s 2nd Division will assume a lead role in counterinsurgency operations in Mosul on July 23.
ACHIEVING MILITARY READINESS THROUGH ADVANCED TRAINING
“Our top priority,” Shields said, is to increase “the readiness of the Iraqi security forces.” Shield pointed to the Northern Iraqi Regional Training Center in Hamman al-Alil, through which the coalition now offers courses for Iraqi army squad leaders, platoon sergeants, junior officers and combat medics. Iraqi army and police also have an opportunity to sign up for basic and advanced marksmanship courses at other facilities, he added.
One of the main challenges in building the new Iraqi army is boosting the literacy rate for the Iraqi security forces so that they can proceed to more advanced academic training, said Shields. For that reason, the brigade also is working to develop literacy programs for the police and army. “We have to conduct training, sometimes,” he said, “in Kurdish and Arabic, and so that slows it down a little bit.”
Shields said 14 Iraqi army battalions and two brigades now are taking the lead in provincial counterinsurgency operations. They are not operating independently, yet, however, he said, because their ability to resupply themselves still needs improvement and they also need additional security equipment to be self-sufficient.
Coalition forces are supporting the Iraqi security forces and fighting alongside as they address military readiness issues, the spokesman said. “We continue to conduct counterinsurgency operations in Nineveh province to neutralize the threat,” he added.
Iraqi army and provincial police forces have been able to prevent a considerable amount of sectarian violence like that which has been occurring in other parts of the country, Shields said. “We continue to degrade the ability of the insurgents,” he added.
Stability and security has improved greatly throughout the province in the past 18 months, according to Shields. Part of that is the result of the 20 police stations that have been rebuilt and the 12 that have been remodeled, he said. He also described security to the east and to the west of the Tigris River Valley as having improved to the degree that some areas are “ready to pursue economic development.”
JOINT IRAQI ARMY-POLICE MISSIONS SPARK CAUTIOUS OPTIMISM
The Nineveh provincial population now sees joint daily missions of the Iraqi army and police forces which is prompting “cautious optimism,” Shields said, as well as useful tips from local citizens about insurgent activities in their neighborhoods.
When asked when Iraqi security forces might be able to operate independently in the province, Shields said it will depend on unfolding events, but he speculated that it might be as soon as December or the spring of 2007. (See related article.)
The transcript and a video link to Shields’ briefing are available from the U.S. Department of Defense Web site.
For more information, see Iraq Update.
(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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