Security force plan on hold

"Iraq’s interior minister has frozen the hiring of 66,000 new members of the security forces due to falling oil prices, a cutback that he said will not endanger U.S. plans to withdraw troops as the insurgency is in its "final throes."

"The condition of insurgents and members of al-Qaeda is very poor and they can’t face or challenge Iraqi security or coalition forces," Jawad Bolani said in an interview in Beirut late yesterday, Massoud A. Derhally reports for Bloomberg News. "We don’t deny the threat or challenges, but they are under control."