General: Iraqi forces won't be ready in Anbar for 'couple of years'

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The top U.S. commander in Iraq's volatile Anbar province said Friday he believes it will take "another couple of years" to get Iraqi security forces into shape to take the reins there.

Marine Maj. Gen. Walter E. Gaskin pointed to progress in the war against the Iraqi insurgency, but he didn't indicate there would be a drawdown of U.S. troops anytime soon despite the strides.

He said the presence of U.S.-led coalition forces in the region will help speed the progress of self-sufficiency.

"You cannot buy nor can you fast-forward experience," Gaskin told Pentagon reporters via teleconference from Baghdad.

"That's what they lack right now. They don't lack the heart. They don't lack the will. They've got that. They're getting what they need in equipment," he said. "They just need the time to train and learn how to employ at the level that we expect an army or a police force or a border force to do."

U.S. commanders in Iraq have extended a Marine Corps unit's stay in Anbar for 30 days past its scheduled September departure date, a sign that commanders plan to continue President Bush's "new way forward" at least through later in the autumn.

The 2,200 Marines and sailors of the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit were brought ashore in May as part of the buildup of American forces in Iraq, which the Bush administration has called a "surge," Marine officials said.

The administration has cited Anbar as an example of success because of the anti-al Qaeda in Iraq sentiment and activity that have emerged among tribespeople in the largely Sunni region. Watch why U.S. alliances in Anbar may have a downside »

Gaskin pointed to a drop in attacks, the efforts of Iraqi police, the improvement of the Iraqi army and the deliveries of mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicles, which are supposed to withstand roadside bombings better than Humvees.

Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno, commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, made the same point Thursday, saying that attacks in Anbar's provincial capital have decreased dramatically.

"Ramadi, once the al Qaeda capital of Iraq, is averaging less than one attack per day now, compared to October 2006 with over 40 attacks a day," Odierno said.

Gaskin was asked whether success in Anbar would prompt a troop cut.

He didn't answer the question directly but indicated that the presence of coalition forces is bearing fruit in fighting militants and training Iraqi security forces.

"The key to this is having persistent presence," Gaskin said. That can be achieved by keeping coalition forces in place, he said, or by training Iraqi security forces "to provide that persistent presence."

"What the surge forces have allowed us to do is go out and get them where they are," he said.

There are about 158,000 U.S troops operating inside Iraq, including about 24,000 Marines.

The U.S. military announced Friday the deaths of two U.S. soldiers from wounds sustained during operations in the Iraqi capital. They were killed in two separate bomb blasts Thursday.

The U.S. military death toll for the Iraq war stands at 3,630, including seven civilians working for the Defense Department.

The British Ministry of Defense said that three British troops were killed Thursday in Iraq in an indirect fire attack on their base in Basra. Six British troops have been killed in Iraq so far in July, and 162 have been killed since the war began in 2003.

Also Friday, coalition forces killed three suspected terrorists and detained 44 others during morning raids in the Baghdad and Mosul areas, the U.S. military said.

The operations targeted terrorist leaders and their operational cells believed to be involved with al Qaeda in Iraq, a military statement said.

The military also said that Iraqi special operations and coalition forces on Thursday killed a person described as an "al Qaeda insurgent" and detained nine others in western Baghdad.

The military statement detailed the capture of three others, described as a battalion commander for an al Qaeda in Iraq-affiliated group; a "suspected terrorist with close ties to Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps' Quds Force;" and "the ringleader of a cell responsible for conducting rocket attacks on the people and security forces" of northern Babil province. E-mail to a friend

CNN's Mike Mount contributed to this report.

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