Oral question asked in the House of Commons, by Bernard Jenkin (Conservative). It was answered on Monday, 17 October 2005 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

Iraq

Question: A few moments ago the Secretary of State said that 200,000 members of the Iraqi armed forces were now trained. Will he comment on the remarks of General George Casey, the commander general of the multinational force in Iraq, when he gave evidence at the end of last month to the Senate armed services committee? He told the committee that only one in a hundred of the battalions is capable of operating independently. That represents two fewer than in June. Why is that? Is it also related to the fact that Iranian-backed Shi'a insurgents have infiltrated much of the Iraqi security services? How are we to make progress, as we all want to do, if we seem to be going backwards?

Answer: Yes, I can explain General Casey's comments, which have been taken slightly out of context. General Casey said, and General Myers as well, I think, that a very limited number—one or three has been mentioned on various occasions—of Iraqi battalions are capable of acting fully independently and autonomously. I have said that we now have 200,000-plus members of the Iraqi security forces—police as well as army—who are trained and capable of taking part in counter-terrorist operations. Those very brave people are putting their lives at risk. Indeed, Iraqi forces are playing a part or a lead part in the majority of operations. That is not to say that in command and control, and in intelligence in other ways, they are at the height of being able to act completely independently and autonomously. Our objective is to increase the number of forces who can do that.

Secondary information

Type: Oral question
Reference: 437 c621
Session: 2005-06
Oral question type: 1st Supplementary
Chamber / Committee: House of Commons chamber
Subjects: Armed forces Iraq Police Peacekeeping operations Politics and government Training Security Reconstruction
Link: View this Oral question on www.publications.parliament.uk