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Iraqi forces may be ready in two years: Rumsfeld
US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has said that Iraqi security forces could be ready in less than two years to take over from US forces.
US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has said that Iraqi security forces could be ready in less than two years to take over from US forces and the United States need not "hang around" until Iraq can defend itself against its neighbours.
Rumsfeld, testifying before committees in the House and Senate, on Wednesday said how soon the Iraqis would be ready to take over security will depend on the strength of the insurgency and on how much force it will take to subdue it.
He refused to estimate the size of the insurgency, telling members of Congress the numbers were classified, and that he did not have much confidence in the estimates produced by US intelligence agencies in any case.
"I am not going to give you a number for it because it's not my business to do intelligence work," Rumsfeld said.
Testifying before the House Armed Services Committee, Rumsfeld sketched out plans to nearly double the size of the Iraqi security forces by mid-2006, building it up from 136,000 currently to 270,000.
The plans call for having 200,000 trained security forces in time for a referendum on an Iraqi constitution in September or October, and 230,000 by the end of the year for the next elections for a permanent government, he said.
In a separate hearing, Republican Senator Peter Domenici of New Mexico pressed Rumsfeld on how long it would take before those forces were equipped and ready enough to allow a withdrawal of US forces.
"Will they be ready in two years, in a year and a half? Will they have enough trained?" Domenici asked.
