An Iraqi "Coastal Defense Force" featuring five 27-meter-long patrol boats with heavy machine guns is scheduled to be operational by midsummer, senior Coalition Provisional Authority officials say. The ICDF also will include 10 rigid inflatable boats for a "Coastal Defense Regiment," an outfit "akin to the Marines," according to a fact sheet the officials distributed today at a briefing in Baghdad. Stationed at the Umm Qasr Naval Base, which is under construction, the maritime force will police the Iraqi coastline...
