IRAQ: Marines move to break Iraqi dependency on U.S.

Maj. Gen. John Kelly, the top Marine in Iraq, calls the strategy "the last 10 yards" -- the push to get the Iraqi national and provincial governments to cooperate with each other.

Other than that, Kelly says, the Marine mission in Iraq has largely been accomplished in Anbar province: The insurgency has been routed, reconstruction and economic growth are moving apace, and a semblance of normalcy has returned.

The time has come to "break the dependency" of the Iraqis on the Americans, and to send home a significant portion of the 22,000 troops under his command, Kelly says. Keeping a large number of troops in Anbar could actually be counterproductive.

"My working thesis is 'If we have it, we'll use it and Iraqis won't be doing it,' " Kelly said.

Take the mentoring of the Iraqi army by Marines. "We learned that if you have a type-A Marine out there, the real leader is the Marine captain, not the Iraqi lieutenant colonel."

Kelly, 58, a Marine for 38 years, is in his final months as commanding general of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward). He was an assistant commander of the 1st Marine Division during the 2003 assault on Baghdad and the spring 2004 fight in Fallouja. His two sons, both Marines, have served in Iraq.

Under Kelly's orders, Marine combat troops have pulled out of the larger cities in Anbar, security checkpoints have been turned over to the Iraqis, and several of the Marines' larger bases have been closed. Also, steps were taken to reduce the Marines' presence in the everyday life of Iraqis -- all convoys, for example, are now done at night.

Much of Kelly's efforts are aimed at getting officials from the provincial government in Ramadi and the national government in Baghdad to work together on common problems. Click here for the story on a confab at the Iraqi-Saudi border.

-- Tony Perry in Al Asad, Iraq

Photo: Maj. Gen. John Kelly at a meeting to discuss safety for Haj pilgrims. Credit: Tony Perry / Los Angeles Times