U.S. aims to help Iraq army fuel and feed itself

By Missy Ryan

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - As violence ebbs and Iraqi forces grow more skilled on the battlefield, the U.S. military is turning its focus to helping Iraqi police and soldiers equip, feed and fuel themselves in order to sustain security gains.

U.S. officials say they aim to ensure that, by April 2009, Iraqi security forces are no longer handicapped by weak systems needed to move soldiers and weapons to the front lines, repair tanks or trucks, or provide police with food and medicine.

They acknowledge that meeting their deadline to improve the complex, and not yet mature, systems to keep Iraq's force of 560,000 police and soldiers running is no easy task.

"They have made tremendous strides on the manoeuvre side, if you will, but on the logistics side it has been a weakness," Brigadier General Keith Walker, who heads the U.S. effort to improve Iraqi forces' operational ability, said in an interview.

In the U.S. army, officials say, there are 8 support staff, like medics or mechanics, for every combat soldier. In the Iraqi army, there is one support staff for every 25 combat soldiers.

One officer at a U.S. military seminar this week called Iraq's preparedness in this area "completely upside down."

The push to improve Iraq's logistical abilities comes as the United States prepares to further reduce its own troop presence, now around 146,000, and hand Iraq's army, police, and border forces greater security control across the country.

Walker described a direct link between reducing Iraq's reliance on U.S. logistical support and withdrawing U.S. troops.