Travis Gulbrandson/P&D Capt. Christopher Mercado discusses the war in Iraq in Farber Hall at the University of South Dakota Thursday afternoon. Mercado said the Iraqi army is not ready to handle insurgent forces by itself, although progress is being made. Click to view the Slideshow

According to one recently-returned veteran, although progress is being made in the war in Iraq, the conflict won't be over any time soon.

"I will say that in my opinion, we're going to be there for some time. The average counter-insurgency campaign lasts about nine years," said Capt. Christopher Mercado. "We just reached the five-year mark a few days ago. It's quite possible we're at the halfway point."

Mercado discussed this and other issues pertaining to the war during a speech at the University of South Dakota Thursday afternoon. He is currently an operations officer with the 2nd Battalion, 12h Infantry Regiment in the United States Army, where he assists in the development of plans and training for future combat deployment.

He has also served as an anti-armor platoon leader, a battalion heavy mortar platoon leader and as the operations advisor on Military Transition Team 0652 in Baghdad, Iraq. He has earned the Bronze Star, among other awards, for his service.

Mercado said more work must be done with allied Iraqi forces before the United States can pull out of the country.

"The painful truth is right now Iraqi security forces are not ready to assume the responsibility of securing Iraq," he said. "The good news is that these security forces ? are increasingly more and more capable of conducting operations."

Among these operations are finding caches of weapons and securing borders, he said.

"Iraqis are a very proud and honored people who take a lot of responsibility for their future," Mercado said. "It's a heavy responsibility they have on their shoulders."

But before they can handle this responsibility by themselves, four different areas need to be improved upon, he said. The first of these is logistics.

"The Iraqi army right now can't logistically supply itself," Mercado said. "There is no system to regenerate supplies when they are consumed."

The U.S. uses computers to keep everything stocked and running efficiently, but "it's not that easy for (the Iraqis)," he said.

"The Iraqi army doesn't have access to the equipment, the technology, the weapons that the U.S. Army has," Mercado said. "The equipment they have is all that they have, and (they've) got to maintain it and keep it functioning."

The Iraqi army also needs improvement in communications, he said..

"Right now, their primary means of communication are Motorola Razrs," Mercado said. "All their communications are through cell phones or face to face."

Mercado said personnel administration and resource management also must be adjusted. At the end of each month, Iraqi soldiers are paid in cash. They are then allowed to take that money home to their families.

This is an "increasingly dangerous method," he said.

However, because they do not have access to things like direct deposit, it is the only method they have at this time, he said.

Corruption must also be addressed, Mercado said.

Although he has not witnessed many of these cases personally, Mercado said he does know of one instance in which soldiers were being forced to pay a fee to other Iraqi military personnel if they wanted to bring their earnings back home to their families.

Mercado said family support is very important to the United States soldiers.

"Without the support of our spouses, the things we're going over there every day would be impossible," he said.

With the reporting of the 4,000th U.S. casualty recently, Mercado said it can be easy for people to ask why the nation is still fighting in Iraq. But he said he is "worried about what kind of message it would send" if the U.S. pulled out.

"Whatever our original reasons (for going) might of been, we're there now, and the most important question we can ask is, ? 'Where do we go now and what are the consequences of the decisions that we make today?'" he said.