Confronting this violence are the Multi-National Forces-Iraq under
U.S. command, working in concert with Iraq's security forces. The
Multi-National Forces-Iraq were authorized by UN Security Council
Resolution 1546 in 2004, and the mandate was extended in November 2006
for another year.
Approximately 141,000 U.S. military personnel are serving in Iraq,
together with approximately 16,500 military personnel from twenty-seven
coalition partners, the largest contingent being 7,200 from the
United Kingdom. The U.S. Army has principal responsibility for Baghdad
and the north. The U.S. Marine Corps takes the lead in Anbar province.
The United Kingdom has responsibility in the southeast, chiefly in
Basra.
Along with this military presence, the United States is building its
largest embassy in Baghdad. The current U.S. embassy in Baghdad totals
about 1,000 U.S. government employees. There are roughly 5,000
civilian contractors in the country.
Currently, the U.S. military rarely engages in large-scale combat
operations. Instead, counterinsurgency efforts focus on a strategy of
"clear, hold, and build"--"clearing" areas of insurgents and death
squads, "holding" those areas with Iraqi security forces, and
"building" areas with quick-impact reconstruction projects.
Nearly every U.S. Army and Marine combat unit, and several National
Guard and Reserve units, have been to Iraq at least once. Many are on
their second or even third rotations; rotations are typically one year
for Army units, seven months for Marine units. Regular rotations, in
and out of Iraq or within the country, complicate brigade and
battalion efforts to get to know the local scene, earn the trust of
the population, and build a sense of cooperation.
Many military units are under significant strain. Because the harsh
conditions in Iraq are wearing out equipment more quickly than
anticipated, many units do not have fully functional equipment for
training when they redeploy to the United States. An extraordinary
amount of sacrifice has been asked of our men and women in uniform,
and of their families. The American military has little reserve force
to call on if it needs ground forces to respond to other crises around
the world.
A primary mission of U.S. military strategy in Iraq is the training of
competent Iraqi security forces. By the end of 2006, the Multi-National
Security Transition Command-Iraq under American leadership is
expected to have trained and equipped a target number of approximately
326,000 Iraqi security services. That figure includes 138,000 members
of the Iraqi Army and 188,000 Iraqi police. Iraqis have operational
control over roughly one-third of Iraqi security forces; the U.S. has
operational control over most of the rest. No U.S. forces are under
Iraqi command.