Iraqi commander urges having patience, sees two-year process
By Wayne M. Anderson
Special to the Herald Times Reporter
CAMP TAJI, Iraq — Two more years in Iraq.
A high-ranking Iraqi commander gives this timetable for when American forces can reasonably leave the country.
"We can say two years and the Iraqi army will be able to depend on itself," said Col. Eaad Abdulmahdi, commander of Iraq's 6th Motor Transportation Regiment in Taji.
"If we get provided with all the equipment and weapons we need so we can face the (terrorists) and defeat them and to be able to establish the units and have all the equipment we need, I can say two years," he said through a U.S. Army interpreter.
Abdulmahdi is the counterpart to Lt. Col. Michael Navrkal, commander of the U.S. Army National Guard's 867th Corps Support Battalion, under which is the Oshkosh-based 1157th Transportation Company, among other units. Abdulmahdi's soldiers work with the Americans here.
The Iraqi commander said his country's army is making progress in its goal of independence from all coalition forces.
The colonel, a graduate of the Iraq military academy and a 23-year veteran who served in both the old and new Iraqi Army, stressed that his government's military is not yet prepared to sever ties of support from the coalition forces, but little by little, more and more, they are making progress toward independence.
"We are conducting missions all over Iraq, from up north to down in the south," he said. But "we still need some cooperation and some help from the American troops helping us in some logistical issues."
Part of this goal of military independence is political unity.
"Hopefully if all the differences and disputes between the different political parties in Iraq fade away, and we get to the point that we have national unity and national reconciliation here in Iraq, we'll get to this point that we'll be one nation again," he said.
And if and when this political unity comes to Iraq, then American and coalition forces can withdraw from Iraq. He predicts "this will happen in two years."
Abdulmahdi said he's very aware of the growing dissatisfaction in the U.S. concerning the often-stalled progress in Iraqi on both the military and political fronts. He said he is equally aware of recent efforts in Congress to pull the plug on funding the war in Iraq.
He said he understands the frustration on the slow progress but strongly advises against pulling the plug on funding.
"I don't think it's quite wise to withdraw the American troops from Iraq right now while the security situation has deteriorated," he said.
"We need more troops in Baghdad. We have to escalate military action in Baghdad, get this terrorism and get rid of it."
The Iraqi army is daily training and fighting to rid the country of terrorism and violence.
"They are doing their best to get rid of the sectarian violence," he said. "We want the American troops to finish their job here and to go back home."
Abdulmahdi said the security situation in several parts of Iraq is bad and has "deteriorated." And for Congress to now stop funding the war effort in a precarious time would not be wise.
"You just imagine if they move out today or tomorrow," he said. "What's going to happen? It will be maybe civil war in Iraq. It will be much worse in Iraq. So I don't recommend this will happen in the near future. That would be unwise." |
