Rumsfeld endorses plan to boost Iraqi security forces
US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has endorsed a proposal to spend at least $1bn (€784,320) to expand the size and accelerate the training and equipping of Iraqi security forces.
While the plan still must get White House approval, and the money would have to be approved by Congress, Rumsfeld's support underscores the Bush administration's effort to shift more of the burden of Iraq's security to that country's forces.
"I'm very comfortable with the increases they've proposed and the accelerations in achievement of some of their targets," Rumsfeld said at the Pentagon.
He noted recommendations for expanding Iraqi forces came from both the Iraqi government and Gen. George Casey, the top US commander in Iraq.
"Now it's simply a matter of our pressing forward and getting our portion of the funding from the Congress and working to see that it's executed," Rumsfeld said. He did not say how much extra US money would be required.
So far, the US has spent roughly 10 billion dollars (£5.26billion) on developing the Iraqi security forces, according to the latest report released by the Pentagon's special inspector general who audits US work in Iraq.
Rumsfeld "approved going forward" with the proposal, which is intended to be part of an add-on to the Pentagon's 2007 budget, according to Pentagon press secretary Eric Ruff. That is the current budget year, which ends on September 30, 2007. It will be submitted to the White House and other government agencies for their review, Ruff said.
The defence secretary's move comes as the Bush administration has been pressing Iraqi officials to agree to benchmarks with which progress in the devastated country can be measured. The effort has produced strains with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki, who has resisted being portrayed as beholden to Washington.
Besides failing to cite a dollar figure, Rumsfeld did not reveal how many extra Iraqi forces would be developed beyond the 325,000 target that US officials say they expect to reach before the end of the year.
Two defense officials said the expected increase was far fewer than 100,000, and one official suggested it might be about 30,000.
CBS News reported on Monday that Casey had recommended expanding the Iraqi security forces by as much as 100,000.
Rumsfeld said the final decision on expansion of the Iraqi forces would be announced in Baghdad.
Asked whether such an increase would mean that US troops would have to stay in Iraq longer to train the extra forces, Rumsfeld said he doubted it. Nor would it necessarily require a higher number of US trainers, he said.
US government approval is required for any plan to expand the size of the Iraqi forces because expansion could not be accomplished without additional US money and the provision of US trainers and US-acquired equipment.
