U.S. military forces will provide security for new reconstruction teams being set up in Iraq's provinces to coordinate U.S. aid, the State Department announced yesterday.
The announcement followed months of disagreement between the Pentagon and the State Department over whether to use U.S. troops or private security guards to ensure the safety of dozens of diplomats, aid workers and other civilian specialists who would staff the new outposts. State has argued that the teams warrant U.S. military protection, but the Pentagon, eager to reduce the number of U.S. troops in Iraq, had resisted committing to the new mission.
One senior State Department official involved in the interagency dispute said a general understanding was reached after Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice pressed concerns about relying on private guards, and after it became clear that State could get the funding and the personnel for the teams and was moving ahead with them...
A Pentagon spokesman confirmed that U.S. forces will be involved but said, "In general, the arrangements include facility and site security," omitting any mention of movement security. That appeared to leave open how team members would be protected while traveling off base...
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