Occupation forces in Iraq

The anticipation of a prolonged stay by occupation forces in Iraq, particularly U.S. forces, was apparently not given thoughtful consideration before the invasion of Iraq by the coalition of the willing early in 2003. On Saturday, November 22, 2003, The New York Times reported that "Army planning for Iraq currently assumes keeping about 100,000 United States troops there through early 2006, a senior Army officer said Friday. The plans reflect the concerns of some Army officials that stabilizing Iraq could be more difficult than originally planned."

"The Pentagon has said it will reduce the American military presence in Iraq to 105,000 by May [2004] from 130,000 now. While some defense officials have raised the possibility of shrinking the force even more next year, if circumstances allow, the senior Army officer [speaking 'on condition of anonymity'] said Army planners were assuming that the number of American forces in Iraq would probably stay the same when the military begins its third one-year troop rotation in March 2005."

"Another senior military official [also speaking 'on condition of anonymity'] cautioned that while the senior Army officer's comments reflected prudent planning, it 'has nothing to do with what the security situation on the ground might be in 18 months.'"

"A third senior military official said that, while planning for the force to enter Iraq in early 2005 was under way, it was far too early to predict how many American troops would be needed for that rotation."

"Many military planners are looking at future troop levels in Iraq, for different reasons. Army and Marine Corps officials must plan for worst-case scenarios, since their services will provide the vast majority of forces in future rotations. Planners on the military's Joint Staff in Washington examine how forces are allocated for hot spots around the world.

"Planners at the United States Central Command in Tampa, Fla., which has responsibility for military operations in Iraq, closely watch the specific troop requirements in Iraq. For that reason, Gen. John P. Abizaid of the Army, who heads the Central Command, will probably have the most influential voice in deciding future troop levels in Iraq."

"Just how large the American military presence in Iraq will be in the future depends not only on negotiations with Iraqi political leaders but also on the level of violence in Iraq and how quickly newly trained Iraqis can take over security, American officials say."

On November 26, 2003, retired U.S. Army General Jay Garner admitted in a radio interview that the U.S. Made Postwar Iraq Mistakes.


 * "the decision to disband the Iraqi army"
 * "should also have put more more troops into Baghdad after the fall of Saddam Hussein and done a better job of winning support from the Iraqi people"
 * "chaos shocked many Baghdad residents, and crime remains a problem in the capital"
 * "bringing the Iraqi army back and using them in reconstruction"
 * "Bremer's decision threw hundreds of thousands of breadwinners out of work and provided potential recruits for insurgency"
 * Garner "would have done a better job communicating with the Iraqi people and restoring electricity supplies"
 * "we are finally placing more trust in Iraqis, which we should have done to begin with"
 * "should have tried to raise a government a little faster than we did"
 * "not enough effort had been put into winning over ordinary Iraqis by getting America's message across"
 * "bad relations between the Pentagon and State Department, [meant that Garner didn't] learn of a detailed study by Secretary of State Colin L. Powell for postwar Iraq until a few weeks before the war began in March"

By April 2004, "For the first time since the fall of Saddam Hussein a year ago, the Americans found themselves fighting intensely against two main segments of the population, using warplanes, attack helicopters and armored units against the groups the United States had said it came to liberate when it invaded war in March last year." --Christine Hauser, NYT 8 April 2004

Related SourceWatch Resources

 * Coalition Provisional Authority
 * Future of Iraq Project
 * Iraq Coalition Casualty Statistics/Private Contractors
 * Iraq has replaced Afghanistan as the prime training ground for foreign terrorists
 * Iraqi Governing Council
 * Iraqi unified resistance
 * Joint Chiefs of Staff
 * Occupation watch
 * Operation Iraqi Freedom: Beginnings of a Quagmire
 * Post-war Iraq
 * Shiite Muslim uprising in Iraq
 * U.S. Central Command