US says training Iraqi police key to ending violence

By Jackie Frank

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President George W. Bush’s national
security adviser Stephen Hadley said on Sunday that training an
Iraqi police force loyal to the government and not to militias
is the key to stemming sectarian violence.

But asked on CBS’ “Face the Nation” whether there are
concerns Shi’ite death squads had infiltrated the Iraqi
Interior Ministry, Hadley said, “There have been allegations
about this and there’s been some evidence of it. And it’s
troubling.”

On CNN’s “Late Edition,” Hadley said there were concerns
about militia infiltration of the police. Training, he added,
would “make sure that the people in the police do not have ties
to militia groups, are going to be loyal to the central
authority and have the necessary training to do their jobs.”

Hadley praised Iraqi leaders’ condemnation of recent
violence, in which more than 200 people were killed since
Wednesday’s bombing of the Shi’ite Muslim mosque in Samarra.

“Our hope … that in this tragedy there actually is an
opportunity where all the communities will decide that really
it is in their mutual interest to avoid the violence, pull
together and construct the kind of unity government that can
move this country forward,” he said on CBS.

Iraqi leaders met late on Saturday to appeal for calm and
renew pledges for a unity government.

Shi’ite Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, flanked by Sunni
and Kurdish politicians, urged Iraqis not to turn on each
other. “The Iraqi people have one enemy; it is terrorism and
only terrorism. There are no Sunnis against Shiites,” he said.

US TROOPS

The chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee,
Virginia Republican John Warner, said the current conflict was
not a civil war by “traditional definitions,” but he noted
growing realization that Iraq could slip into civil war.

On NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Warner said the Iraqi government
had sufficient military to take the lead with some U.S.
support. “But I do not think we should get involved in the
civil war, other than to give support to the Iraqi forces as
they begin to put it down,” he said.

But Democratic Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware raised the
question on “Fox News Sunday” of whether the leaders calling
for an end to violence continued to have influence.

“The question is are those guys still in control or has the
street taken over … are the militias in control? Who controls
the militias?” Biden said.

Iraqi National Security Adviser Mowaffak al-Rubaie told CNN
that Iraqi forces were ready to fight terrorism, which he said
is at the heart of the current violence.

“I believe that more than 60 percent of the Iraqi security
forces are ready and prepared to take on the terrorists. And
the level of the training is very, very good,” he said.

Hadley added that the current situation in Iraq should not
slow U.S. plans to start bringing some of the 138,000 U.S.
troops home, which depends upon training of Iraqi forces.

“I don’t see why this should be why this should derail that
process. And, of course, that is the key. As the president
said, as they step up, we can step down.” he said on CNN.