Iraq's national police force, controlled by that ministry, is "operationally ineffective" and should be disbanded and reorganized.
The Jones report, commissioned by Congress, gives a gloomy assessment of Iraqi security forces.
The report, by a congressionally-named commission of retired senior military officers, cites progress in the operation and training of the Iraqi army. But it estimates that "they will not be ready to independently fulfill their security role within the next 12 to 18 months" without a substantial U.S. military presence. Logistical self-sufficiency, which it describes as key to independent Iraqi operations, is at least two years away, the report says.
There are some bright spots.
The Independent Commission on the Security Forces of Iraq, headed by retired Marine Gen. James L. Jones, is the latest of a series of progress reports of the political and military situation in Iraq in advance of the Bush administration's own scorecard to be delivered next week. ...The 152-page document, obtained by The Washington Post, agrees with the administration's assessment that the security situation has improved dramatically in Anbar province and cites "signs of encouraging tactical successes in the Baghdad capital region."
But reality makes it clear that changes are needed -- badly.
Although it was required only to assess the condition of Iraq's security forces, the commission report also cites divergences between perceptions and reality in Iraq, particularly in the image of U.S. forces. The massive U.S. "footprint," it says, conveys the image of "an occupying force" when "what is needed is the opposite impression." It proposes significant consolidation and reduction of U.S. installations and the establishment of a U.S.-Iraqi "Transition Headquarters."
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