Washington — Plans to deploy the first battalion of Iraq's new army are in doubt because a third of the soldiers trained by the U.S.-led occupation authority have quit, defence officials said Wednesday.
Touted as a key to Iraq's future, the 700-man battalion lost some 250 men over recent weeks as they were preparing to begin operations this month, Pentagon officials said.
"We are aware that a third ... has apparently resigned and we are looking into that in order to ensure that we can recruit and retain high-quality people for a new Iraqi army," said Lt.-Col. James Cassella, a Pentagon spokesman.
The battalion was highly celebrated when the newly retrained soldiers, marching to the beat of a U.S. Army band, completed a nine-week basic training course in early October. The graduates, including 65 officers, were to be the core "of an army that will defend its country and not oppress it," Iraq's American administrator, L. Paul Bremer, said at the ceremony.
It was uncertain exactly why a third abandoned their new jobs, though some had complained that the starting salary — $60 a month for privates — was too low, officials said. The Chicago Tribune, which first reported the resignations, quoted officials in Baghdad as saying soldiers were angry after comparing their pay with the salaries of other forces. Iraqi police are paid $60 a month and the Civil Defense Corps $50, officials have said.
Others may have feared threats from insurgents who have targeted Iraqis co-operating with occupation authorities, one Defense Department official said.
It also was unclear whether what remains of the battalion would be sent out for duty, officials said. And Bremer was said to be considering a review of salaries.
At press conferences and in speeches, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and others have repeatedly trumpeted the growth of Iraqi security forces — announcing breakneck speed in recruiting and training.
"Across the country, Iraqi security forces -- now number close to 160,000 -- are assuming more responsibility for the security of their country," Mr. Rumsfeld said for instance at a Pentagon press conference Tuesday.
"In Kirkuk, [the U.S. commander] reports that today nearly all crime is now dealt with by the 2,200 coalition-trained Iraqi security police," Mr. Rumsfeld said. "Joint patrols have largely ended and Iraqis have stepped forward in that particular area to patrol on their own."
He didn't mention the problem with the army recruits.
The crumbling of Iraq's first revived army battalion holds considerable symbolism because Bush administration officials have placed great importance on handing to Iraqis some of the duties performed by the 130,000 Americans occupying the country.
