US troops should stay on for three to five years, says Iraqi general

The commander of a brigade stationed in Kirkuk said if they left, "it would be a disaster", because Iraqi troops are not yet capable of reining in ethnic tensions. But a US commander said this timeline was "excessive".

Baghdad (AsiaNews/Agencies) – US troops should remain in Iraq for another three to five years to guarantee security across the country, shaken by insurgency and ethnic tension. This view was expressed by an Iraqi general, Anwar Hamad Amin, commander of the second brigade, 4th Iraqi army division. "If they leave, I am sure there would be a disaster," said the general, who is based in the ethnically-mixed northern city of Kirkuk. "They need to stay another three to five years to ensure stability." The American soldiers "support us now and in the future we will take over ... We are like a baby and just now starting to walk".

American commanders have described General Amin's Iraqi brigade as a good fighting force. "Operationally they are ready," said Lieutenant Colonel Robert Benjamin, of the 101st Airborne Division in Kirkuk who works closely with the Iraqi general, and who is deputy commander of US troops in the area. In his view, plans for a five-year stay of US troops were "excessive". "I don't think it will take that long, that's longer than we're going to have," he said.

To highlight the important role played by coalition forces, General Amin said their presence helped to do away with ethnic tensions between local militias, a mixed bag of Kurds, Arabs and Turkmen. "We need to learn professional standards from them… to keep us from committing abuses like those the interior ministry in Baghdad is accused of." The Iraqi interior minister, Bayan Jabr, of the Shi'ite party, has been charged by Sunni public opinion with having death squads wiping out Sunni Muslims. US security sources said more than 1,300 people have been eliminated in attacks; eye witnesses say many were conducted by men in uniform.

In an interview with BBC, Bayan Jabr admitted to this fact, saying however that a uniform "could be used by anybody", given the ease with which uniforms can be found in shops. "Whoever was wearing them has nothing to do with my ministry," he said.

• iraq
• usa
• general
• long
• stay
• groups
• ethnic
• tensions
• death
• squads