(AP)
Updated: 2007-09-20 17:10

In an Associated Press interview last week, Gen. David Petraeus, the top US commander in Iraq, defended the transition process. It involves a series of detailed reviews and assessments by US and Iraqi officials, culminating with input by Petraeus and the most senior Iraqi government leaders.

Though slow, it is helpful in sorting out problems that stand in the way of a smooth transition, he said.

"It forces people to come to grips with those issues," Petraeus said.

In January, President Bush announced his new strategy for stabilizing Iraq and his decision to send an additional 21,500 US combat troops to Baghdad and to Anbar province. He, said, at the time, that the Iraqi government "plans to take responsibility for security in all of Iraq's provinces by November."

In June the Pentagon informed Congress that the target had slipped to "no later than" next March.

In this month's report, the Pentagon said its "current projection" was that all 18 provinces would move to Iraqi control "as early as" July; that would be eight months later than Bush's original projection.

The Pentagon also hinted at further delays.

"If, for example, violence worsened significantly in any of the provinces yet to transition to (Iraqi control) the likely dates for transition of those provinces would be reevaluated," the report said. It said the main reason for the delays so far is a "lack of capability in the Iraqi police services."

The Pentagon report cited a litany of problems with the police. For example, it said as few as 40 percent of those trained by coalition troops in recent years are still on the job. Also, due to combat loss, theft, attrition and poor maintenance, a "significant portion" of US-issued equipment is now unusable.

Next in line for transition to Iraqi control is Karbala, a small south-central province, by the end of this month, according to the Pentagon report to Congress. It gave no further breakdown of the schedule.

The US commander in northern Iraq, Army Maj. Gen. Benjamin Mixon, had recommended that Ninevah province shift to Iraqi control in August, but that date was pushed back to at least November. The province includes Mosul, the country's third largest city.

Last year, the relatively peaceful southern provinces of Muthanna, Dhi Qar and Najaf were returned to Iraqi security control. In April, Maysan province in the southeast was the fourth to convert.

In May the Kurdish regional government assumed security responsibility for the three provinces that make up the largely peaceful Kurdish region of northern Iraq: Dahuk, Irbil and Sulaimaniyah.

 

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