Report: State Department wasting millions on training Iraq doesn’t want

Special to WorldTribune.com

BAGHDAD — The United States continues to train Iraqi police despite
Baghdad’s insistence that this is no longer required, a report said.

The U.S. Special Inspector-General for Iraq Reconstruction asserted that
the State Department was wasting millions of dollars for U.S. training of
Iraqi police units. In two reports, the inspector-general concluded that
U.S. aid was flowing to the Interior Ministry despite protests from the
Baghdad government.

“I don’t need it,” Iraqi Deputy Interior Minister Adnan Assadi was
quoted by one of the reports as saying. “I won’t ask for it.”

The reports, both of them released on Oct. 24, questioned the benefit of
the police training program, overseen by the State Department. The
inspector-general also said the State Department’s Bureau of International
Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs failed to supply goals for the Iraqi
police or assesses their effectiveness.

“Without specific goals, objectives, and performance measures, the PDP
[police development program] could become a ‘bottomless pit’ for U.S.
dollars intended for mentoring, advising, and training the Iraqi police
forces,” the report said.

Iraq has built a police force of about 420,000, with units ranging from
neighborhood patrols to special operations. The inspector-general said 12
percent of U.S. funds for the last quarter of 2011 would be allocated to
police training. The rest would be spent on security, life support and the
maintenance of helicopters.

Since 2003, Washington spent $8 billion to build the Iraqi police force
in wake of the ouster of President Saddam Hussein. In 2012, the State
Department was scheduled to take over all U.S. security functions, including
training, in Iraq.

The inspector-general stressed that Iraq has not agreed to any of the
goals set by the U.S. program. One report quoted Assadi, the deputy
minister, as saying that the Interior Ministry gained little from the U.S.
funds.

“The plans provided by INL have progressed,” the report said. “However,
a comprehensive and detailed plan, based on a current police force
capability assessment and with INL-focused metrics, is still lacking.”

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