http://www.timesofoman.com/newsdetails.asp?newsid=18039&pn=international US-Iraqi task force to decide on US troop exit BAGHDAD –– US and Iraqi authorities are to set up a body to decide on the crucial question of how and when US troops will hand over security in the war-torn country to Iraqi forces, the US embassy said Sunday. The new joint task force will meet next week and report to Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari on handover plans in 60 days, US ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said in a statement. "The joint task force will establish criteria and conditions that will help determine when Iraqi security forces ... will be capable of assuming full responsibility to secure Iraq," the new ambassador said. US President George W. Bush has refused to set a timetable for the withdrawal of the 138,000 US forces from Iraq, but has said that US forces would stand down as Iraqi forces gradually take over. "The handover will start with cities which fulfill the conditions," said a senior Iraqi official who declined to be named, without saying what the conditions were. "This task force will establish no timeline; but, instead, identify conditions sanctioned by the leadership of the Iraqi government and the multi-national coalition," said Khalizad. "As these conditions are met, transfers of security responsibility will be implemented progressively and noticeably to the Iraqi people," Khalilzad added. The joint task force will be headed by Jaafari's national security advisor Muwaffaq Rubaie, and will including representatives from coalition forces, as well as from the Iraqi interior and defence ministries. Another four joint task forces will also be set up to deal with budgetary issues, reconstruction efforts, infrastructure protection, and detainees. The Pentagon on Thursday reported to Congress on the readiness of Iraqi security forces to take over security duties from US troops. Pentagon officials refused to comment on the specifics, but acknowledged that only a small number of the 171,500 Iraqi soldiers and police were ready to mount independent counter-insurgency operations. The readiness of Iraqi security forces is a key condition for the drawdown of US-led forces in Iraq as insurgents continue to wage a nationwide campaign of shootings and bombings, much of it targetting Iraq's fledgling forces. Maintaining a high-level of troops in Iraq has put severe strains on the US military, and the rising US death toll -- which Sunday reached 1,766 -- is eroding US public support for the war. According to a document by British Defense Secretary John Reid, which was leaked to Britain's Mail on Sunday, Washington hopes to hand over control of security to Iraqi forces in 14 out of 18 provinces in the country by early next year, allowing it to slash US-led troop levels to 66,000 from 176,000. –– AFP
