Pat Dollard

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Senior U.S. military officials projected yesterday that the Iraqi army and police will grow to an estimated 580,000 members by the end of the year but that shortages of key personnel, equipment, weaponry and logistical capabilities mean that Iraq’s security forces will probably require U.S. military support for as long as a decade.

“The truth is that they simply cannot fix, supply, arm or fuel themselves completely enough at this point,” said U.S. Army Lt. Gen. James Dubik, head of the Multi-National Security Transition Command in Iraq.

Iraqi security forces now consist of nearly 500,000 personnel, after a 55 percent increase in the size of the Iraqi army over the past year, Dubik said. The Iraqi government envisions increasing that number to 580,000 by the end of 2008, with an ultimate goal of building a force of as many as 640,000, he said.

Dubik described Iraqi security forces as “bigger and better” than ever before, but he said significant problems are keeping them dependent on U.S. military support.

Iraq “remains reliant on the coalition” for critical gear, such as helicopters, mortars, artillery and intelligence-gathering equipment, he said. Moreover, Iraq’s shortage of mid-grade leaders represents “a very real and very tangible hole in proficiency that . . . will affect them for at least a decade.”

Washington Post article by Ann Scott Tyson here.