Leavenworth Strategist

Multi-National Force-Iraq Announces Force Reductions

MULTI-NATIONAL FORCE-IRAQ PRESS DESK (Iraq)
March 08, 2009

BAGHDAD - Multi-National Force-Iraq announced today that two Brigade Combat Teams, who are scheduled to redeploy in the next 6 months, along with associated enabling forces such as logistics, engineers, and intelligence, will not be replaced. Additionally, an F-16 squadron recently redeployed and will not be replaced.

This drawdown of forces from Iraq will reduce the total number of U.S. Brigade Combat Teams from 14 to 12. Additionally, a British Combat Brigade will also redeploy without replacement. The reduction is possible due to the increased level of security and stability that Iraq has achieved over the last 12 months, the growth in capability and capacity of the Iraqi Security Forces, and the transition from counterinsurgency to stability operations throughout most of Iraq.

2nd Troop Accord Passes In Iraq

By Ernesto Londoño
Washington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, December 24, 2008; A07

BAGHDAD, Dec. 23 -- Iraq's parliament on Tuesday night signed off on a security agreement that would allow thousands of British troops and a few hundred soldiers from a handful of other countries to stay in Iraq until next summer.

The approval, which was delayed by recent fights in parliament, paves the way for the Iraqi government to sign a security agreement with Britain that covers small contingents from Australia, Estonia and Romania.

Those troops will be authorized to stay in Iraq until July, and their departure will mark the end of the "coalition of the willing."

Iraq MPs block non-US troop bill

(BBC) Iraq's parliament has rejected a draft law that would have permitted forces from the UK, Australia and a number of other countries to remain after 2008.

The bill, rejected by 80 votes to 68, would have given the 6,000 non-US troops a legal basis for staying once the UN mandate expires on 31 December...

NATO and Iraq: agenda for the future

DefenceTalk.com
During a friendly and comprehensive exchange of views, Allied ambassadors reiterated their countries' determination to continue with the work of the NATO Training Mission- Iraq (NTM-I). Following a request addressed to NATO earlier this year by Prime Minister Al-Maliki a decision has been taken to extend this mission through 2009. Both sides shared a very positive evaluation of the training effort so far, which - since 2004 - resulted in courses for over 10000 Iraqi security forces' members. Recently, these projects include specialized gendarmerie-type training for Iraqi police. Moreover, a discussion between NATO and Iraqi officials has begun on the details of enhanced training in such areas as for example border security or Small Arms and Light Weapons Accountability.

The Prime Minister stressed the important practical benefits of NATO's engagement, helping the Iraqi government to develop autonomous capacities to improve the security situation in the country and to face up to the challenge of terrorism.

Iraq: NCCI's Weekly Highlight

Source: NGO Coordination Committee in Iraq  Date: 17 Jan 2008
How might humanitarian operationality be in Iraq?

NGOs play a vital role providing support to affected people. NGOs that adhere to the Code of Conduct for the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and NGOs in Disaster Relief (1), and deliver humanitarian aid need to distinguish themselves from other types of agencies emphasizing their neutrality and impartiality. Currently, NGOs have adapted to the current climate of distrust and uncertainty in Iraq by being very conservative in the information they share and in being careful with whom they are publicly associated with in Iraq.

Increased Use of Airpower (OIF/ISAF)

A CSIS chart from Anthony Cordesman summarizes the trends in the US use of airpower in the Iraq and Afghan Wars during 2004-2007. The report is at: http://www.csis.org/component/option,com_csis_pubs/task,view/id,4242/type,1/

“While airpower is scarcely a forgotten dimension of both wars, it is clear that it is playing a steadily more important role over time. The data show a steady rise in air activity, with particularly sharp rises in the case of Afghanistan. The data for total annual close air support/precision strike (CAS) sorties do not show a dramatic increase for Afghanistan between 2004 and 2007, but doubled in the case of Iraq. It is also the number of such strikes that actually used major munitions, however, that measure combat activity, and these data reflect a dramatic increase in both the use of airpower and the intensity of combat in both wars.”

My comment: I echo his comment in the report that the lack of ground forces has been an important factor, especially in Afghanistan. Secretary Gates and others are trying to come up with a better ISAF strategy as NATO has been unwilling to surge there. The New York Times noted yesterday the Bush administration and NATO have begun three top-to-bottom reviews of the entire mission, from security and counterterrorism to political consolidation and economic development, according to American and alliance officials.

Multilateral Cooperation Critical to Gulf Region Security, Gates Says

By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

MANAMA, Bahrain, Dec. 8, 2007 – Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates pressed today for expanded multilateral cooperation that could better protect the Persian Gulf region against threats from Iran and other destabilizing forces.

While emphasizing the importance of U.S. bilateral ties with many countries in the region, Gates told delegates at the Manama Dialogue here, it’s time to pool their efforts more closely to bolster their collective security.

The annual summit, now in its fourth year, brings together about 200 senior military leaders from 23 countries to discuss mutual security interests.

List of 'Willing' U.S. Allies Shrinks Steadily in Iraq

Nations Still There Toil in Relative Obscurity

By Joshua Partlow
Washington Post Foreign Service
Saturday, December 8, 2007; A01

KUT, Iraq -- The commander of the Kazakh soldiers in Iraq, all 29 of them, keeps a stack of English-language instruction books on his desk inside Forward Operating Base Delta. He already speaks Russian, Turkish and Kazakh, and after English, he plans to learn Chinese. He has the time.

Kazakhstan has two main missions here on the geographic and strategic periphery of the war, and both of them could be going better. The Kazakh troops are sappers, trained to dispose of explosives. They were ordered by their government not to leave the base after one of those bombs, nearly three years ago, killed the first and only Kazakh soldier to die in Iraq. The soldiers also run a water purification system but find less use for that these days, too. "It's not necessary," said Capt. Samat Mukhanov. "There is bottled water here."

When asked how he felt about working in Iraq, the commander, Maj. Shaikh-Khasan Zazhykbayev, barked in his thick accent: "Not so comfortable! . . . But we are military. Our government sends us to serve in Iraq, and we are serving in Iraq."

President Bush once called it the "coalition of the willing," the countries willing to fight alongside the United States in Iraq. The list topped off in mid-2004 at 32 countries; troop strength peaked in November that year at 25,595. The force has since shrunk to 26 countries and 11,755 troops, or about 7 percent of the 175,000-strong multinational force, according to mid-November figures provided by the U.S. military.

New Australian PM signals Iraq pullout

From The Sunday Times

November 25, 2007
Paul Ham, Sydney

AUSTRALIA’S new prime minister Kevin Rudd will mark his arrival on the international stage by announcing the withdrawal of his country’s combat troops from Iraq and signing the Kyoto treaty on climate change.

Rudd, a republican and former diplomat, swept to power as his Labor party stormed to a landslide victory in yesterday’s elections.

Official figures showed Labor had won more than 53% of the vote, compared with just under 47% for the ruling Liberal coalition of John Howard, who had served four terms as prime minister but lost his seat. Computer projections forecast that Labor would secure 86 seats in the 150-seat lower house of parliament.

Poland will pull out of Iraq next year

By VANESSA GERA
WARSAW, Poland (AP) -- Poland's new prime minister outlined ambitious plans for the next four years in his inaugural address Friday, saying he plans to withdraw troops from Iraq next year but also push for stronger relations with NATO.