Iraq security forces only 30% trained

http://www.iht.com/bin/print_ipub.php?file=/articles/2005/02/03/news/military.html

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Pentagon aides also say Baghdad army lacks troops, highlighting U.S. challenge

WASHINGTON Fewer than 30 percent of the 136,000 Iraqi security forces whom the Pentagon has said were trained and equipped are fully capable of conducting a broad range of independent missions in Iraq, and Iraqi Army units are suffering severe troop shortages, two top Pentagon officials told a Senate panel on Thursday.

General Richard Myers, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, acknowledged that only about 40,000 of Iraq's security forces "can go anywhere and do anything," but he said that the remaining troops could also be useful.
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More lies. Liars liars liars.

I'm sure we're paying them anyways. One of the senators from Maine was reading an email from a US soldier talking about how the Iraqis are saying there are more people in their unit than there are and pocketing the excess pay.

That sort of thing is called a ghost payroll, and is done for the purpose of pocketing the excess pay, as you said.

IraqMIRED.

Cody acknowledged that shortly after major combat operations in Iraq were declared over on May 1, 2003, the Pentagon projected that the number of brigades required to secure the country would fall from 16 at that time to 11 by December 2003 and four last year. There are now 20 U.S. brigades in Iraq, including an increase of about three brigades deployed only for the period surrounding the Iraqi elections held last Sunday...

So, if the 3 election brigades leave, that will mean 17 brigades in Iraq, instead of the 4 predicted.