U.S.: Iraqi Forces Gaining Effectiveness
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When Iraq's 202nd National Guard Battalion faced insurgents six months ago, it simply, in the words of one American general, "evaporated." Now, the same outfit, tested in recent combat, is being touted as a vital building block of the force the United States says will increasingly replace its own troops on the front lines.
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The U.S. military presence in Iraq will grow to 150,000 troops by next month, the highest level since the invasion last year.
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The Iraqi government has made mixed progress in meeting political and security goals, a U.S. official said on Thursday citing a report that may add to rising calls for a change of course in the unpopular war.
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As violence continues in Iraq, the military is looking for  ways to achieve stability  through opinion polls and public relations.
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BAGHDAD, Iraq - More than 3,000 U.S. and Iraqi forces launched a major operation Tuesday against insurgent strongholds just south of Baghdad, their second mission in five days to wrest control from militants whose attacks threaten national elections seen as crucial to stabilizing this turbulent country...
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BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. forces stepped up operations Tuesday across a wide swath of the Sunni insurgent strongholds northwest of the capital, pounding targets in two cities from the air and supporting Iraqi troops in raids on mosques suspected of harboring insurgents...
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With the insurgency still a threat to Iraq's planned elections, the U.S. force is about to expand to its highest level of the war &#151; even higher than the initial invading force in March 2003.
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A new approach by American-led forces in Iraq is producing "breathtaking" improvements in security in some areas, says Lt. Gen. David Petraeus, commander of U.S. forces in the country, but al Qaeda in Iraq remains well-entrenched in some Baghdad neighborhoods.
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US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says Iraqi security forces need equipment as well as training and anything NATO allies can do to support them will be helpful.
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WASHINGTON -- Iraqi insurgents are growing more effective and it will take time to get US troops the $4 billion in armor they need for protection, defense officials said yesterday. ''This is not Wal-Mart ,&quot; one general said.
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The United States is beefing up military forces in Iraq to provide security before elections scheduled for January 30, Pentagon officials said on Wednesday.
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Intensified military raids in Iraq over the past few months have significantly battered the ranks of mid-level insurgents but have scored few gains against the 30 or so most wanted rebels, according to senior U.S. military officers here.
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In the dusty plains of western Iraq, al-Qaida is gaining strength. Daily attacks against U.S. and Iraqi forces are on the rise, and there is little sign of progress in persuading the population to support the national government. U.S. commanders acknowledge they are locked in struggle with insurgents for the allegiance of Iraq's youth.
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U.S. and Iraqi forces launched attacks on Baghdad's northern and southern flanks to clear out Sunni insurgents, al-Qaida fighters and Shiite militiamen who had fled the capital and Anbar during a four-month-old security operation, military officials said Monday.
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Police and Iraqi National Guardsmen say that they have received more tips from the public, resulting in more arrests and greater effectiveness in their efforts to weaken the violent insurgency rocking the country.
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Maj. Gen. Carter F. Ham has been placed in charge of an effort to better train the soldiers who are training IraqÂs military.
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The U.S. ambassador to Iraq and a top military commander there said today that U.S. forces are making progress against al-Qaeda, with successes in the western province of Anbar now being replicated in other volatile parts of the country.