US, other foreign troops may protect Baghdad diplomats

US, other foreign troops may protect Baghdad diplomats
08 Jul 2005 15:03:36 GMT
Source: Reuters
(Adds background, quotes)

By Charles Aldinger

WASHINGTON, July 8 (Reuters) - The U.S. military and Iraqi government
are discussing plans under which American and other troops could help
protect diplomats in Baghdad, a U.S. general said on Friday in a
tacit admission that Iraqi security forces were not yet up to the
task.

The American military in the past has been reluctant to commit its
troops to protect foreign envoys, leaving that to Iraqi security
forces and hired guards.

But Army Maj. Gen. William Webster, commander of multinational forces
in the Baghdad area, told Pentagon reporters in a teleconference that
something needed to be done "very quickly" to counter attacks and
threats against foreign diplomats in the Iraqi capital.