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View Full Version : New Mission for U.S. Division: To Put Iraqi Forces to the Test



SWJED
12-18-2005, 09:53 AM
18 Dec. New York Times - New Mission for U.S. Division: To Put Iraqi Forces to the Test (http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/18/international/middleeast/18strategy.html).


The Fourth Infantry Division returns to Iraq next month for a complex, year-long tour that illustrates the risks and goals of the American military's postelection mission across Iraq.

The more than 20,000 troops in the division, about 15 percent of the 138,000-strong American commitment scheduled to remain in Iraq at least through the early part of the year, will be responsible for security across a swath of central and south-central Iraq that is much larger than previous commands have tried to cover there.

The expanded mission includes more than a hope, but a requirement, that Iraqi security forces take over the security mission in larger areas of their own country. The planning is also driven by a cold reality that many of the allied troops - including Ukraine, Bulgaria, Italy and possibly even Poland - seem likely to leave Iraq over coming months....