Training Iraqi Troops Elsewhere...

I guess I must be a retard, but this thought had never occured to me... from John Kerry's editiorial in today's Times:

He also needs to put the training of Iraqi troops on a true six-month wartime footing and ensure that the Iraqi government has the budget needed to deploy them. The administration and the Iraqi government must stop using the requirement that troops be trained in-country as an excuse for refusing offers made by Egypt, Jordan, France and Germany to do more.

This strikes me as an excellent idea... these troops would be in an intensive training situation in another country where they can truly focus and are not rushed into duty or trained "on the job" in a combat situation. Meanwhile, our troops could focus more on security matters and not have to worry about ill-trained troops tagging along. Further, it would bring in other countries (noteable France and Germany) which have abstained from helping with troops. This training would give them a stake, and it would be a point of pride that they do well. Finally, it would allow some more time for the Iraqi units to be more suitably equipped.

Outside of the logistics of moving these Iraqis to Europe, what are the downsides of this?

Probably doesn't really matter... at this point, I don't think he wants Europe's help (he wants to "show 'em up") and berating Europe's lack of involvement is a useful tool for him in his bag of distractions.