Source:
ReutersBAGHDAD, June 10 (Reuters) - Iraqi security forces should be in a position to take control of 14 of Iraq's 18 provinces by year's end, although they will not be ready to fight on their own for some time, a top U.S. general said on Sunday.
Giving a candid assessment of their capabilities, Lieutenant-General Martin Dempsey, in charge of U.S.-led efforts to reconstruct Iraq's security forces over the past 22 months, also said there was a critical shortage of good senior officers.
Creating a new police force and army, disbanded after the U.S.-led invasion to oust Saddam Hussein in 2003, is a prerequisite for a U.S. withdrawal. U.S. soldiers though have voiced frustration at what they see as slow progress.
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Asked how ready Iraqi security forces were to take over from U.S. forces, he said: "Unanswerable in general and answerable when you talk about different parts of Iraq. I can't say they are all ready or they're not.
"Seven provinces are under Iraqi control, by the end of the year potentionally most of the others. I'm a little concerned about Baghdad, Diyala, Salahaddin, Anbar. Fourteen of the provinces could certainly be handed over (but) being completely self-reliant is a ways off."
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