Pat Dollard

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Lady’s and gentelman…..

If this isn’t considered Victory, I don’t know what is…….

From Voices Of Iraq

Baghdad, May 28, (VOI) – Iraqi security forces will be ready to assume responsibility over Baghdad’s security from the Multi-National Force (MNF) by 2009, a senior under-secretary at the Ministry of Interior said on Wednesday.

“Interior Ministry forces are almost self-sufficient in weapons and training…they are on their way to meeting the required number of police troops,” Adnan al-Asadi said during a press conference in Iraqi capital today, in reference to the merge of Sahwa (Awakening) council members into security forces.

The Sahwa councils were set up in a number of Iraqi provinces such as Anbar, Diala, Ninewa, and Salah al-Din with the aim of bolstering political and local tribal powers to fight armed groups, particularly al-Qaeda network, in those areas. These councils are usually led by tribal chiefs or notables in the provinces.

Some political forces are calling for incorporating Sahwa fighters into the security forces in both the ministries of interior and defense.

“Next year, Interior Ministry forces will be fully prepared to take over the security file in the capital Baghdad,” al-Asadi noted.

“The ministry is currently planning to set up a national police brigade in every province, which will mainly work on combating terrorism…,” al-Asadi explained.

Meanwhile, the deputy Chief of Staff of the Iraqi joint forces, Nasir al-Abadi, said during the same press conference that the performance of the Iraqi army has shown significant improvement during joint operations with Interior Ministry forces, like Basra’s Saulat al-Fursan (Knights’ Assault), Baghdad’s al-Salam and Mosul’s Umm al-Rabieen.