HELPING THEM TO HELP THEMSELVES

The United States will begin training Iraq's new military this weekend.

Officials said the training program will begin on Saturday. They said the program was delayed because of intense U.S. search-and-destroy operations of Sunni insurgents northwest of Baghdad.

Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, head of the U.S. military in Iraq, said more than 11,000 people have expressed interest in enlisting for the new Iraqi army. Sanchez said on July 23 that the first battalion of the new Iraqi army would begin training within 10 days.

Officials said 12,000 Iraqis will be trained in 2003 for the new army. By the end of 2005, the Iraqi army is projected to number 40,000, Middle East Newsline reported.

At the same time, the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division is training Iraq's paramilitary forces. Officials said the 101st is training a new class of officers for the Iraqi Facility Protection Force, which provides security at power plants, water treatment plants and other public works facilities.