Iraqis say U.S. troops in the pullout mode; atmosphere 'less intimate'
Tuesday, April 28, 2009 E-Mail this story Free Headline Alerts
BAGHDAD Ñ Iraqi forces are feeling the heat from a series of Al Qaida bombings and said they lack basic equipment required to detect and stop suicide bombings at a time when U.S. forces are preparing to withdraw.
"On the one hand, everybody sees a significant decrease in the American presence, while on the other hand we don't have enough equipment to fill the vacuum," a security source said.
Iraqi security sources said police and security forces have been hampered by the lack of equipment designed to detect explosives. The sources said hundreds of anti-bombing devices meant to be circulated at police and military checkpoints have not arrived.
The sources said the Al Qaida campaign of nearly daily suicide strikes has alarmed Iraq's military and security forces. They said Iraqi officers have felt a significant decrease in the U.S. military presence in cities throughout the country. The U.S. military reports about 138,000 troops in Iraq.
"They're getting ready to go home," another security source said. "They still work with us, but the atmosphere has become much less intimate."
In some cases, the sources said, the Iraqi police were provided with metal detectors that either didn't work or were useless against explosives. They said Al Qaida has understood this and was targeting police checkpoints around such cities as Baghdad, Baquba and Mosul.
[On April 28, the Iraqi Interior Ministry announced the capture of an insurgency cell that conducted a series of car bombings in Baghdad in 2005. The ministry did not say whether any of the cell members were involved in the current Al Qaida offensive.]
Iraqi police and security forces lack armored vehicles to conduct patrols in neighborhoods with a suspected Al Qaida presence, the sources said. They also reported a shortage of night-vision equipment.
Other factors cited in the Al Qaida surge were the dismantling of the Sunni-dominated Al Sahwa auxiliary police force and the release of thousands of Sunni detainees. The sources said many of the Sunnis have been recruited by Al Qaida.
The U.S. military was scheduled to leave Iraqi cities by June 30, a deadline that has sparked increasing concern in the Iraqi security forces. Officials said Iraq has agreed to consider allowing U.S. troops to remain in Mosul as well as Baghdad for at least the rest of 2009.
"The general position of the Iraq Defense Ministry is to keep the timings in the withdrawal pact that American troops withdraw from Iraqi cities and not enter the cities unless they get Iraqi approval," Iraqi Defense Ministry spokesman Mohammed Al Askari said. "If we need the support of American troops, we will recall them with Iraqi governmental approval."