General Says Training Of Iraqi Troops Suffered From Poor Planning And Staffing
The American general in charge of training the new Iraqi military after Baghdad fell says the Bush administration’s strategy to use those forces to replace departing American troops was hobbled from its belated start by poor prewar planning and insufficient staffing and equipment. The account by Maj. Gen. Paul D. Eaton, who retired on Jan. 1 after 33 years in the Army, suggests that commanders in Iraq might by now have been much closer to President Bush’s goal of withdrawing American forces if they had not lost so much time in the first year to begin building a capable Iraqi force. Full Story