New Iraq Security Plan Will Take Months To Accomplish

By Samantha L. Quigley
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON — The commander of Multinational Corps Iraq said on Saturday the new Iraqi security plan will take months, not weeks, to accomplish.

Speaking from Baghdad during an interview on CNN’s “Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer,” Army Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno emphasized that things are moving in the right direction.

“The key is we’re doing this jointly,” Odierno said. “Coalition forces, Iraqi army forces, Iraqi police, we stay together until we get the right level of security and then we turn it over to the Iraqi security forces. “I think that will take some time,” he continued. “I don’t want to put an exact time on it, but a minimum of six to nine months.”

(PHOTO: An interpreter translates for Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno, commander of Multi-National Corps - Iraq, and Lt. Col. Iman Ibrahim Mansour, commander of the 4th Battalion, 4th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division, March 4, 2007. The two discussed the security situation in Baghdad's Yusifiyah district and later toured the Joint Security Station there. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Curt Cashour.)

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