Iraq:
Looking To Security
From Paper Police
By
Ali al-Fadhily
19 December,
2007
Inter
Press Service
BAGHDAD,
Dec 19 (IPS) - In a country with no security and no jobs, just
about anyone can work as a policeman.
"To
survive in Iraq under U.S. occupation, there are only two jobs; police
and garbage collection," Baghdad journalist Mohammad al-Dulaymi
told IPS. "Unemployment is leading many Iraqis to join the security
forces despite the risk involved."
According
to the Iraqi government, unemployment was between 60-70 percent over
the year. But not even senior army and police leaders know how many
have got jobs as security men.
"We
do not really have reliable statistics for the number of security personnel
in Iraq," a general in the ministry of interior in Baghdad, speaking
on condition of anonymity, told IPS. "There are at least one million
policemen who receive salaries from the ministry of interior as official
policemen with salaries of 300 dollars and up. But we believe that half
of them exist on paper only."
The general
said there is massive corruption in the ministry, and that most of the
senior staff colludes in faking lists of personnel who do not exist.
"Why
does everybody blame the bad security on the police," Col. Fadhi
al-Rubai of the Russafa Police in Baghdad asked IPS. "The whole
country is being robbed. A look at any ministry would reveal the catastrophe
Iraq is going through. We, the police, are only one part of huge corruption."
"There
are 1.4 million policemen in Iraq," Abbas al-Bayaty, member of
the security committee in the Iraqi parliament, and senior member of
the major Shia bloc the Iraqi Coalition, told IPS. "That brings
the percentage of policemen to people to one policeman for 27 residents,
while the usual standard should be one to 300. This militarisation of
Iraq is a big mistake."
Even if large
numbers exist only on paper, they are at the least a massive drain on
the budget.
Moreover,
there are security forces other than the police, though the ministry
of defence refused to give IPS any idea of the numbers of Iraqi army
personnel.
"Only
the minister is authorised to talk about it," a general in the
ministry, speaking on condition of anonymity, told IPS. "And anyway,
no one has a good estimate given the tremendous chaos in the ministry."
On the ministry
of national security too, information is scarce. "The ministry
of national security is an arm of the Iranian intelligence," Col.
Jassim Alwan of the former Iraqi army told IPS in Baghdad. "It
is completely run by Iranian intelligence and the al-Quds Regiment under
a secret agreement between Iran and America since before the invasion
and occupation."
An Iraqi
Intelligence Office was set up by L. Paul Bremer, head of the U.S. Coalition
Provisional Authority which controlled Iraq during the first year of
occupation. This office was meant to be independent of government. The
office led by Gen. Mohammad Abdullah al-Shahwany has maintained a low
profile through the years of occupation.
Shahwany,
a Sunni Muslim, came to Iraq with the U.S. army in April 2003. He was
one of the strongest supporters of U.S. presence in Iraq, and his office
was keen on bringing former intelligence officers back to the service.
But again, there is no information available on the number of personnel
and what they do.
There are
still other security forces in Iraq. "There are special army units
that work together with the U.S. army without any authority of the Iraqi
government," Yassen Fadhi of the ministry of defence told IPS.
"These forces are used by the U.S. army to conduct sensitive missions
like arresting militia leaders or raiding mosques."
The recent
Awakening Forces formed by the U.S. forces from Arab tribes is believed
now to be at least 76,000 strong, with plans to add another 10,000.
These men
are also referred to by the U.S. military as "concerned citizens".
Most of them are said to be former resistance fighters who used to attack
occupation forces, but have now switched support to the U.S. Men said
to be among these forces are paid 300 dollars a month.
Many local
community representatives now want their own "Awakening" forces.
"We
contributed a lot to the security of Iraq, and we achieved in six months
what the huge armies of the Americans and Iraqis failed to achieve in
four years," Sheikh Hammed Hayis of the Anbar Awakening Force in
Ramadi, 10 km west of Baghdad, told IPS. "We are the leaders of
the Awakening all over Iraq, and the government must accept us as official
forces."
The Shia-led
government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has been at odds with the
U.S.-military over the formation of these local U.S.-backed Sunni militias.
According to the U.S. military, 82 percent of the "concerned citizens"
are Sunni.
Many fear
further deterioration of security under current policies.
"Power
in Iraq will soon be turned to tribal leaders," Sheikh Ahmed Shakir
of the Sunni religious group The Association of Muslim Scholars Association
told IPS in Baghdad. "They (the U.S. military) are buying time
with the tribes after they failed with the army and militias."
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