US forces aim to bring Iraq police under control

By Alastair Macdonald

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – The U.S. army in Baghdad plans to
deploy large numbers of troops with Iraqi special police units
to try to curb suspected sectarian militia activity among the
police, a senior U.S. military official said on Thursday.

“We’re going to try to wrap ourselves around them,” the
official told reporters, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“The lines are blurred now and it’s not easy to determine
that some operation tonight was directed … by the MoI
(Interior Ministry) or … by some people in uniform … who
are part of somebody’s posse,” he said.

“We’re trying to control that.”

Strained relations between U.S. forces and Iraq’s Interior
Ministry were highlighted last month when American troops found
dozens of abused Sunni Arab prisoners at a secret ministry site
in Baghdad.

Two more such secret jails have since been discovered in
Baghdad, the official said, as well as one in northern Iraq.

U.S. officials have voiced mounting concern that violence
by pro-government, pro-Iranian Shi’ite militias could prolong
unrest by alienating minority Sunni Arabs, so delaying a U.S.
withdrawal.

“I’m very concerned about militias,” the official said.

Nine special police brigades in Baghdad each have 40 to 45
U.S. personnel attached to them to train and liaise with the
U.S. command, he said; the plan would raise that to hundreds of
Americans, similar to ratios seen with the Iraqi army.

“By hugging the enemy, wrapping our arms around them, we
hope to control them … like we did with the army,” he said,
noting that the Interior Ministry was not enthusiastic about
the idea. The plan was likely to be approved shortly, he said.

Officials at the Interior Ministry were unavailable for
comment. Last week, the U.S. ambassador called for
non-sectarian leadership at the ministry.

The present minister, Bayan Jabor, is from the SCIRI
Shi’ite Islamist party whose Badr militia allies are widely
accused by Sunnis of controlling some police units.

The ministry could change hands during negotiations on a
new governing coalition following this month’s election.

“PARTNERSHIPS”

A spokesman for the U.S. command which oversees cooperation
with Iraqi forces confirmed plans to create “partnerships”
between Iraqi special police and U.S. military units along the
lines seen between the U.S. and Iraqi armies.

“This is in development,” Lieutenant Colonel Fred Wellman
said, adding that, with U.S. forces hoping to hand over
security to Iraqis as far as possible, the police would play a
key role over the coming year in taking over Iraqi cities like
Baghdad.

“2006 we’re going to call the year of the police,” he said.

Wellman said the partnership plan was not a response to
problems with the police: “It’s not a failure to perform on the
part of the special police or a failure of the system,” he
said.

But the senior military official made clear that this was
part of the reason for proposing the plan in Baghdad that, he
said, could be a model for police forces across the country.

“There were some elements of it allowed to grow that we may
not fully have understood,” he said of the way U.S. forces
stood by while the police forces were massively expanded last
year.

“The commandos and the public order brigades grew like
Topsy, without much control,” he said, adding that SCIRI’s Badr
organization appeared to have influence over parts of the
police.

“They can tell us to get lost but we ain’t going to get
lost,” the official said of Iraqi commanders. “If we find
they’re breaking the law, then we’re going to arrest them.”