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WASHINGTON (CNN) Feb. 25 — The only Iraqi battalion capable of fighting without U.S. support has been downgraded to a level requiring them to fight with American troops backing them up, the Pentagon said Friday.
The battalion, made up of 700 to 800 Iraqi Army soldiers, has repeatedly been offered by the U.S. as an example of the growing independence of the Iraqi military. The competence of the Iraqi military has been cited as a key factor in when U.S. troops will be able to return home.
“As we see more of these Iraqi forces in the lead, we will be able to continue with our stated strategy that says as Iraqi forces stand up, we will stand down,” President Bush said last month.
The battalion, according to the Pentagon, was downgraded from “level one” to “level two” after a recent quarterly assessment of its capabilities.
Though officials would not cite a specific reason for downgrading the unit, its readiness level has dropped in the wake of a new commander and numerous changes in the combat and support units, officials said.
The battalion is still deployed, and its status as an independent fighting force could be restored any day, Pentagon officials said. It was not clear where the battalion is operating within Iraq.
According to the congressionally mandated Iraq security report, there are 53 Iraqi battalions at level two status, up from 36 in October. There are 45 battalions at level three, according to the report.
Overall, Pentagon officials said close to 100 Iraqi army battalions are operational, and more than 100 Iraq Security Force battalions are operational at levels two or three. The security force operations are under the direction of the Iraqi government.
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Former U.S. attorney General Ramsey Clark, first left, and international advisor to former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein participates in a protest against US military bases in Bulgaria as people carry posters saying "No Foreign Military Bases in Bulgaria", in Sofia today. About a hundred supporters of communist and nationalist movements gathered for the protest. AP Photo/Petar Petrov
The chaos that has overtaken Iraq is now threatening hopes among the US and its allies that they might be able to start significant troop withdrawals in the coming months. Such withdrawals have always been conditional on the security situation and that situation is, to say the least, on a knife-edge following the bombing of the Shia al-Askari shrine in Samarra and the subsequent retaliations.
Australian Prime Minister John Howard has already publicly expressed his concern over the effect of increased sectarian tensions on embryonic troop withdrawal plans: “There’s no early prospect of all coalition forces being withdrawn, although until this latest event the signs were looking good.”
The foreign forces are now in a predicament – their presence adds to the violence yet they are not withdrawn for fear that the violence might get worse. They are part of the problem and not enough of the answer.
Iraqi troops still need the support of
coalition forces: Sir Jeremy Greenstock.
“But I will not let myself be reduced to silence.”
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