Sovereign-Iraq quote of the week: “Military analysts talk about ‘standing up’ a new army as if it’s as simple as placing toy soldiers on a board. But as the helicopter churns over Baghdad, [Lt. Gen. David] Petraeus likens the process of military mobilization to moving a herd of cattle across a range. There are so many people and logistics, so many parts that have to be assembled, so many things that could go wrong. All a military leader can do is put the pieces in place . . . and wait.” (The Washington Post‘s David Ignatius on a visit to Gen Petraeus, who is in charge of creating “an elite new ‘Intervention Force’” for the interim Iraqi administration, part of a police force and army “that can stabilize Iraq.” This Time, Maybe a Real Army, 7/18/04)

 

Sovereign Iraq

 

Believe it or not, not so long ago Iraq had a military quite capable of fighting aggressive wars of all sorts and it was trained by… gasp… Iraqis. Not an American general in sight. But the thought that Iraqis could create an Iraqi military capable of “stabilizing” Iraq seems to have been beyond the ken of the Bush administration. Instead General Petraeus is now creating an “independent” Iraqi force geared to what we imagine our needs in Iraq to be — in other words a force of dependents. That elite Intervention Force of the general’s, writes Ignatius, “will eventually have about 6,500 Iraqi soldiers who can move quickly to suppress insurgencies in urban areas, part of an overall army of about 70,000. Because their duty will be more hazardous, the members of this elite force will get about $100 more a month.”

 

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