WP: Dispute Delays Handoff to Iraqi Unit

[maddezmom]

Washington Post Foreign Service
Tuesday, December 27, 2005; Page A19

BAGHDAD, Dec. 26 -- A dispute between the U.S. military and Iraq's Defense Ministry over who will command the Iraqi army unit assuming responsibility for some of Baghdad's most sensitive sites has led to the postponement of a formal handover scheduled for Tuesday.

Since August, Col. Muhammed Wasif Taha has served as acting commander of the 5th Brigade, 6th Division of the Iraqi army, the unit set to take charge of a section of the capital including the airport road and the perimeter of the fortified Green Zone. The U.S. Army's 3rd Infantry Division currently controls both areas.


But the handoff ceremony has been delayed because Iraq's Defense Ministry has not approved Taha's appointment, U.S. and Iraqi officials said.

"It is a bit of a showdown," said Capt. John Agnello, public affairs officer for Task Force 4-64, which is part of the 3rd Infantry Division and works closely with the Iraqi 5th Brigade. "We do not want to transfer authority if we don't know the person who will be put in command."

more:http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/26/AR2005122600748.html

[ClintonTyree]

1. So the United States......

in it's eagerness to hand over complete control of Iraq to the Iraqis will not do so if they cannot completely control who it's being handed over to? In other words they won't cede control unless their puppets are in place. Sounds like complete autonomy to me! Yep, a free and Democratic Iraq, the reason we've spent almost 1/2 Trillion dollars and sacrificed almost 2,300 American lives. Free and Democratic in the sense that we still maintain control over everything, that is. :eyes: