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Shi'ite leaders back militias, reject U.S.-Iraq security initiative

SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Wednesday, August 16, 2006

BAGHDAD — Shi'ite leaders have rejected a U.S.-led effort to restore security in Iraq.

Instead, Shi'ites were ordered to join militias and establish local squads to stop Sunni attacks on their towns and neighborhoods. Shi'ite leaders have rejected a joint U.S.-Iraqi campaign to bolster security in Baghdad.

"Our forces are not complete to take on this wide terrorism," Iraqi parliamentarian Hadi Al Amiri, head of a Shiite militia, said.

Al Amiri called on Shi'ites to establish neighborhood committees to ensure protection, Middle East Newsline reported. He said Shi'ites should protect their homes while Sunnis assume responsibility for their neighborhoods.

In mixed neighborhoods, Al Amiri said, Sunni and Shi'ites should set up joint patrols. He said the committees were more reliable than police.

"If the situation stays as it is, this will mean the continued existence of militias," Al Amiri said in a television debate on Aug. 13.

About 60,000 Iraqi and U.S. troops were participating in Operation Together Forward. The operation has entered its second phase.

"Abating the extremists in the capital will neither be easy nor rapid," U.S. Maj. Gen. William Caldwell, spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition, said.

"Challenges will ensue, but efforts will march forward block by block."

Under Operation Together Forward, 3,000 buildings were cleared, more than 20 suspects detained, more than 50 weapons and eight cars seized and more than 330 weapons registered, Caldwell said. The general praised the Iraqi contribution to the joint operation, particular in the area of tactical intelligence.

"Iraqi army and police personnel understand the hierarchy of Iraqi family relations, the interaction with neighbors, male versus female attitudes, and all the likeliest places that perhaps one would stash weapons or something else that is illegal," Caldwell said.

Sunni representatives have dismissed the neighborhood committees. Haidar Al Mulla, a representative of the Sunni Iraqi National Dialogue Party, said the groups proposed by Shi'ites were militias.

The U.S. military said Iraqi and U.S. units began establishing a barrier to protect a Baghdad neighborhood targeted by Al Qaida and Sunni insurgents. The military said Dura, a mixed Sunni-Shi'ite neighborhood, has been the target of daily killings and bombings.

"On average we were finding about 25 IEDs [improvised explosive devices] a week in and around Dura before we started this operation," Master Sgt. Ronald Loebel said. "So far this week, there has only been four IEDs in the area. We have been very successful up to this point."

Meanwhile, the U.S. military has reported gains by the Iraqi National Police.

Officials said the Iraqi police have taken significant strides toward training and equipping goals. They said the police were being mentored by hundreds of U.S. and other instructors.

"So, with regard to Iraqi police and police services, and also the National Police, you can see that they're doing very well right now," U.S. Maj. Gen. Joseph Peterson, commander of the Civilian Police Assistance Training Team, said.

Peterson told a briefing on Monday that 92 percent of Iraq's 188,000 Interior Ministry forces have been trained and equipped. He said 90 percent of Iraqi police were trained and 83 percent were equipped.

The army general said Iraqi police were working with U.S. troops in nine Iraqi cities. He said those police units were 99 percent equipped.

The unit with the highest readiness was the National Police, formerly the Special Police. Peterson said the National Police was 98 percent trained and 92 percent equipped.

The U.S. military also reported gains by the Border Enforcement Department, which oversees Iraq's borders with Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Turkey. Peterson said 92 percent of the department's nearly 30,000 officers were trained and 56 percent of them were equipped.

Officials said the Interior Ministry has enabled U.S. efforts to train the Iraqi police. Iraq contains 12 police academies, with Iraqis comprising 80 percent of instructors. Another 185 trainers were from abroad, most of them from the United States.

On Monday, the U.S. military unveiled a new digitized-print uniform for the Iraqi police. The uniform was similar to the U.S. Army green uniform but with small Iraqi flags embedded into the pattern.

Officials said the uniform was meant to prevent militias from easily copying Iraqi police and army uniforms. They said the uniforms would be issued in October to all Iraqi National Police officers.


Copyright © 2006 East West Services, Inc.

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