Iraq lacks air defense once U.S. pulls out

BAGHDAD, July 29 (UPI) -- The commander of U.S. forces in Iraq says the Middle Eastern country won't be able to defend its airspace when U.S. combat forces pull out by the end of 2011.

Army Gen. Ray Odierno stopped short of saying U.S. pilots and planes would have to essentially serve as Iraq's air force until Iraqis could defend their country's skies, but said a U.S. Air Force team would be in Iraq soon to assess the United States role, The New York Times reported Wednesday.

Iraqis have already asked Washington for new F-16 fighter jets, but Odierno said was impossible to build and deliver the aircraft by the pullout date.

Asked if the Iraqis could fly defensive air patrols at the end of 2011, when a United States agreement with Iraq calls for all U.S. combat troops to be out, Odierno said, "Right now, no."

Odierno spoke with reporters while traveling with U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who arrived in Iraq unannounced Tuesday to meet with Iraqi military and government leaders and assess progress made since the United States handed over security duties to the Iraqis June 30.

"There is a sense of equal parts in this now, and nobody is the boss, or the occupier, or however you want to put it," Mr. Gates said at Tallil Air Base in southern Iraq.