IRAQ: No comparison

The performance of Iraqi troops and police — including nearly 1,000 desertions — during the first March battle against Shiite militias in the oil city of Basra was something less than exemplary.

But Marine brass in Anbar province remain convinced that the Iraqi divisions they've been training will acquit themselves far better when their time comes to take the lead in fighting insurgent groups.

At a teleconference briefing Monday for Pentagon reporters, Col. Lewis Craparotta picked his words carefully but left little doubt that Marines feel the Iraqi troops in their section of the country are — to be blunt — better than those who were sent to fight in Basra.

"We've still got some challenges integrating some of their logistics," Craparotta said, "but I think these are some of the best Iraqi security forces in the country, based on the training and the time we've invested in them.  And I don't see a comparison with these forces with what I've read happened in Basra." 

Craparotta is the commanding officer of the Regimental Combat Team One, which has responsibility for that portion of Anbar that includes Fallouja and Ramadi, once battlegrounds.

Al Qaeda has been "neutralized" in the two cities and has little popular support, Craparotta told reporters. But he expects them to attempt a comeback at some point.

"This is a pretty smart enemy," he said. "It's an enemy that tends to come back where they started. And both Ramadi and Fallouja are key cities, or were key cities."

—Tony Perry in San Diego

Photo: Marine Col. Lewis Craparotta, commander of Camp Pendleton-based Regimental Combat Team One. Credit: U.S. Marine Corps