Some Iraq Report Changes Sound Familiar

Iraq Study Group Co-Chairmen James A. Baker III, standing, left and Lee Hamilton, standing, right, answer questions during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2006 to present the Group's report on the situation in Iraq. Other Group members, seated, from left are, Alan Simpson, William Perry, Chuck Robb, Sandra Day O'Connor, Edwin Meese, Vernon Jordan, Leon Panetta and Lawrence Eagleburger. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari) (Haraz N. Ghanbari - AP)

Specifically, the panel recommended a boost from the current total of about 5,000 _ according to Pentagon figures _ to as many as 20,000. And the report called for Iraqi control of its army by next April, and self-reliance with some support from the United States by December 2007.

"We are just beginning to put people with formal training in as our embedded advisers and only about half of them have the training, much less the practical experience," said Cordesman. "So how we can rush those forward?"

According to the military, there are 400 transition teams already working with the Iraqi Security Forces, and the number of on-the-job advisers is growing by up to hundreds each week. There are 10-12 advisers in each team, but defense officials are considering expanding them.

The transfer of authority to the Iraqi units is slow and fraught with problems ranging from initial desertion issues to sectarian tensions, particularly between some Iraqi police units and the populace. But to date, according to the Pentagon, the U.S. military has trained 134,700 Iraqi military _ largely army soldiers _ and an additional 188,300 local and national police and border patrols.

And, although the Iraqi army is still heavily dependent on U.S. and coalition forces for logistical support, seven of the 10 Iraqi Divisions are taking the lead in operations, as are 30 of the 36 Iraqi brigades and 91 of the 112 Iraqi battalions.

There are currently about 135,000 U.S. troops in Iraq.

While much of the report deals in broad recommendations aimed at agencies and the administration as a whole, the panel took direct aim at Rumsfeld, who offered his resignation the day after Democrats swept control of the House and Senate.

Saying there has been a long tradition of partnership between the military and civilian leaders, the group said the "tradition has frayed" and must be repaired. It urged the new defense secretary, former CIA director Robert Gates, to "make every effort" to encourage military officers to offer independent advice.

Gates, who will be sworn in as the 22nd secretary of defense on Dec. 18, said the report will not likely be the last word on the Iraq situation.

"Frankly, there are no new ideas on Iraq. The list of tactics, the list of strategies, the list of approaches, is pretty much out there," said Gates, a former member of the Iraq panel, in testimony before the Senate Armed Services committee earlier this week. "And the question is: Is there a way to put pieces of those different proposals together in a way that provides a path forward?"

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