US speeds up Iraqi training

By Nick Childs
BBC Pentagon correspondent

Even before the latest upsurge in violence in Iraq, the Pentagon had accelerated the recruitment and training of Iraqis for security operations.

And its claims of success have been astonishing.

The new Iraqi security services are coming under attack

At the beginning of October, it said there were 60,000 new Iraqi security forces.

Now, less than two months later, it says the figure is 134,000 - more than there are US troops in Iraq.

The senior Republican Senator, John McCain, has accused the Pentagon of cooking the books for political reasons.

The Pentagon denies this, but at a recent news conference, US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld accepted that the Americans had slashed the eight weeks' initial training that, for example, the new Iraqi police were getting.

"They've taken some people with fewer than eight weeks training in the police, put them out with the understanding they'd bring them back and give them the remaining course... it was a way of getting more people on the street doing things," he said.

'Iraqis policing Iraqis'

At a recent briefing at his headquarters in Florida, the man overseeing the Iraq military operation, General John Abizaid, acknowledged the relative lack of training the Iraqis have been getting.

He denied that the speed-up was because US forces were anxious to leave, but argued that getting more Iraqis into the field quickly was, essentially, the only way forward.

"What we are moving towards is Iraqi policing of Iraqi cities - Americans on the outskirts, Americans moving in conjunction with the Iraqis to deal with security problems beyond their control and I think that that is not only a good plan, but one that will ultimately lead us to success," he said.

Many in the new Iraqi security forces, in particular the so-called facilities protection service, whose job is basically to guard buildings and infrastructure, have had only minimal instruction.

Mr Rumsfeld agrees that the accelerated recruitment carries other risks, including in the vetting procedure.

"You know in a perfect world you'd have a year's vetting process before you included anybody. Unfortunately we're not in a perfect world, so what we do is we vet them to the best we can," he said.

Clearly, despite the recent get-tough military campaign by the US forces in Iraq, the main thrust of American security efforts is to hand over as quickly as possible to Iraqis.