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US Planning More Mobile Iraq Force to Tackle Unrest
Agence France Presse, Arab News
BAGHDAD, 30 November 2003 — The US military is restructuring its forces in Iraq to create a lighter, more mobile force with a bigger intelligence capability, better suited to the sort of low-level insurgency facing its troops, its top commander here said yesterday.
As a major troop rotation sees the combat units and heavy amour that took part in the six-week spring invasion return home, Washington will deploy more infantry and lighter armored cars, Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez said.
“We are in fact going to change the composition of our forces to give us additional infantry,” the general told a Baghdad briefing. “We’re moving to a more mobile force, one that has the right blend of light and heavy.
“What we’re in search of is a very mobile, very flexible, lethal force that can accomplish its mission,” he said. “Those terms are dictated by the enemy.”
The general said the aim of the restructuring was to gain “additional flexibility” and “mobility” across the country while maintaining the “right combat power” to respond with force when necessary.
“There is no way I am going to put our forces at risk,” he said. Sanchez said the restructuring would also see more resources put into intelligence and analysis, although he added that this was a process that had already been going on for some time.
“I feel very comfortable with the progress we have made,” he said, adding that intelligence was already being much better shared between the different troop contributors to the coalition.
The US general said the upcoming year-end rotation, expected to be spread over some weeks, would also see an overall reduction in troop numbers. But he insisted it was a reflection of the replacement of support units with civilian contractors, be they expatriate personnel or Iraqis, rather than the result of political pressure to bring home the troops amid flagging support for the occupation at home.
“As far as I am concerned as the commander on the ground at this moment of time, I have no need for extra forces,” said Sanchez. “There is no pressure on me from the political leadership to decrease the number of forces in this country.”
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| Earth, a planet hungry for peace |
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| The Israeli apartheid (security) wall around Palestinian population centers (Ran Cohen, pmc, 5/24/03). |
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| The Israeli apartheid (security) wall around Palestinian population centers in the West Bank, like a Python (Alquds, 1/25/03. |
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