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To: Skywatcher who wrote (16271)	12/11/2003 11:53:57 AM
From: Bucky Katt	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 48461

Plans to deploy the first battalion of Iraq's new army are in doubt because a third of the soldiers trained by the U.S.-led occupation authority have quit, defense officials said Wednesday. Touted as a key to Iraq's future, the 700-man battalion lost some 250 men over recent weeks as they were preparing to begin operations this month, Pentagon officials said. "We are aware that a third ... has apparently resigned and we are looking into that in order to ensure that we can recruit and retain high-quality people for a new Iraqi army," said Lt. Col. James Cassella, a Pentagon spokesman. The battalion was highly celebrated when the newly retrained soldiers, marching to the beat of a U.S. Army band, completed a nine-week basic training course in early October. The graduates, including 65 officers, were to be the core "of an army that will defend its country and not oppress it," Iraq's American administrator, L. Paul Bremer, said at the ceremony. It was uncertain exactly why a third abandoned their new jobs, though some had complained that the starting salary — $60 a month for privates — was too low, officials said. The Chicago Tribune, which first reported the resignations, quoted officials in Baghdad as saying soldiers were angry after comparing their pay with the salaries of other forces. Iraqi police are paid $60 a month and the Civil Defense Corps $50, officials have said. Others may have feared threats from insurgents who have targeted Iraqis cooperating with occupation authorities, one Defense Department official said. It also was unclear whether what remains of the battalion would be sent out for duty, officials said. And Bremer was said to be considering a review of salaries. At press conferences and in speeches, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and others have repeatedly trumpeted the growth of Iraqi security forces — announcing breakneck speed in recruiting and training. The Bush administration plans to spend some $2 billion on rebuilding the Iraqi army in the next year.