From: "Rich Gauszka" 


"Mark"  wrote in message news:43ffa741$1{at}w3....
> I've seen that "troop independence" subject bandied about
with half-facts,
> misunderstandings of what it means, and outright false characterizations.
> The reality is, they're doing pretty damn good.
>
> One of the mischaracterizations used a bit more than others, is not
> acknowledging that the definition of "full autonomy"
includes air support,
> they don't have many planes/pilots yet so ours are used. I have no problem
> with our planes and support infrastructure being used for the next 60
> years, just as they are in Germany...
>
> "Rich Gauszka"  wrote in message
> news:43ffa4a5$3{at}w3....
>>
 >> You mean like the fact that Iraq has no battalions that can operate
>> independently?
>>
>> http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,18267680%255E2
3109,00.html
>> However, the sole battalion that was classified as capable of fully
>> independent operations in October has since been downgraded, said
>> Lieutenant General Gene Renuart, of the Joint Staff.
>>
>> No battalions are currently considered fully capable of operating without
>> the support of the US military.
>>
>>
>>
>
>

Well we'd better get busy getting them up to speed as I doubt the militias
and other forces will be willing to wait for us. 60 years? Dang you're even
more pessimistic on this than I am 

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L23705158.htm

Feb 23 (Reuters) - The destruction of a Shi'ite shrine in the city of
Samarra and reprisals by Shi'ites against the Sunni minority since, have
sharply raised the fear of civil war in Iraq.

While there has been a low-level sectarian conflict across the country for
more than a year, with Sunni insurgents attacking Shi'ite neighbourhoods
and Shi'ite forces targeting Sunnis, Wednesday's attack in Samarra greatly
raised the stakes.

Following are details on militias, militant groups and other security
forces operating in Iraq:

BADR BRIGADES

A Shi'ite militia formed in Iran in the early 1980s with the aim of
toppling Saddam Hussein from exile. The Badr Brigades, thought to number up
to 20,000 highly trained men, fought on the side of Iran during the 1980-88
Iran-Iraq war. The militia was once led by Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, who now
heads the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), one
of the main parties in Iraq's ruling Shi'ite coalition. Badr changed its
name to the Badr Organisation after Saddam's overthrow to try to shift away
from its militia roots, but the group is still believed to be fully formed
and armed.

MEHDI ARMY

Formed after Saddam's overthrow in April 2003, the Mehdi Army is loyal to
Moqtada al-Sadr, a fiercely outspoken, 33-year-old Shi'ite cleric who is
popular among Iraq's poor, urban Shi'ite majority. Sadr led two rebellions
against U.S. and British forces in 2004. The Mehdi Army is estimated to
number around 10,000, but there are thousands more who are loosely
affiliated with it and could be called upon to fight. Sadr's vision differs
from SCIRI's and during 2005 the Mehdi Army and Badr clashed on several
occasions.

PESHMERGA FORCES

The Peshmerga, a Kurdish word literally meaning "those ready to
die", was created in 1946 to fight for an independent Kurdish state.
The force numbers up to 140,000 with loyalties divided between Kurdistan's
two main political groups, the Kurdish Democratic Party and the Patriotic
Union of Kurdistan. Around 20,000 peshmerga have been folded into Iraq's
army, but they are largely based in the Kurdish region. Officially, the
militia has been disbanded, but most say it could quickly be reformed.

SUNNI MILITANT GROUPS

There are a range of nationalist Sunni militant groups operating in Iraq,
several loosely affiliated, others operating alone. They formed in the wake
of Saddam's overthrow with the hope of driving U.S.-led forces out of Iraq
and have been responsible for many bombings, kidnappings and
assassinations. Some profess loyalty to Saddam, others have ties to the
militant group al Qaeda in Iraq, led by the Jordanian Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
This month a group of Sunnis formed a militia called the "Anbar
Revolutionaries", designed to oppose Shi'ite and Kurdish militias and
foreign militant groups such as Zarqawi's.

IRAQI AND FOREIGN SECURITY FORCES

According to the U.S. military, Iraq's security forces now number 220,000,
including police, border guards, army battalions and a small special
operations unit, all trained to varying degrees of ability. They are backed
up by more than 130,000 U.S. troops and around 20,000 others in the
U.S.-led coalition.

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