Americans,
Iraqis Vie For
Control Of Security Forces
By Dahr Jamail
15 June, 2004
The
New Standard
Baghdad ,
Jun 14 - Even as authorities for the US-run occupation cede a greater
share of security responsibilities to Iraqi forces, spokespeople for
the Iraqi police and paramilitaries in many areas of the war-torn country
say they lack the legitimacy and tools necessary to carry out their
duties. With the transfer of official sovereignty to a US-sanctioned
governing body just over two weeks away, officials with both the Iraqi
Civil Defense Corps and the Iraqi Police complain they are understaffed,
under-equipped and undermined by the US.
And where US control
over indigenous security forces ends, it is becoming clearer that the
authority of local resistance forces begins.
Bassim Mahmoud Hamid,
the Iraqi Police (IP) spokesman for the Ministry of the Interior, says
the lack of autonomy from the US military has placed IP personnel in
the precarious position of being closely linked to the occupation, rendering
them unpopular with ordinary Iraqis and targets of the resistance. "Weve
lost more than 200 policemen in Baghdad in the last two months, and
ten high ranking officers who have been assassinated," Hamid said
during an interview in the Coalition conference center.
Hamid said he is
frustrated by what he sees as Coalition forces usurping his authority.
"We are arresting criminals, and the [US] military are coming and
forcing us to release some of them, and this has caused many problems
for us," Hamid said. "After June 30, I hope that well
be allowed to do the job we have been trained to do, without the interference
of the Americans." Hamid noted that in a rush to free prisoners
from Abu Ghraib and other facilities, the US is setting loose many people
the police believe constitute an actual danger to Iraqi society.
Many members of
the Iraqi Police and the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps (ICDC) -- all of
them hired and trained by the United States military or private contractors
working on its behalf -- are openly critical of the very institutions
that pay their meager salaries.
"The Americans
are not good people," one policeman commented in Fallujah.
Abdul Rahman, a
captain in the Fallujah ICDC, was equally straightforward: "We
want them out of our country."
The Fallujah
Factor
In Fallujah, US
forces have had great difficulty controlling the Iraqi Police and Civil
Defense Forces.
There are definite
signs that the ICDC and Iraqi Police in the rebellious city are working
independently of their US backers. But they appear less independent
of the local resistance forces. It is widely understood that the ICDC
are collaborating with the local resistance forces, known to Iraqis
as mujahideen. Some say the official Iraqi forces are in part run by
the mujahideen.
According to the
Army Times, the problems for the US military started even before Aprils
heavy fighting in Fallujah between US Marines and the formidable local
mujahideen. "Iraqi police and security virtually melted away from
the city streets that were taken over by the gunmen," reported
the Times in a May 24 article about Iraqi forces who were supposed to
be assisting US troops with the security of Fallujah before Aprils
showdown.
Colonel John Toolan,
commander of the 1st Marine Regiment near Fallujah, was quoted by the
Associated Press as saying, "When the fighting started [in Fallujah],
it was difficult to get hold of the [Iraqi] security battalion, really,
everybody left."
In a recent interview,
Colonel Sabar Fahdil, the commander of the Fallujah police, openly expressed
his anger toward what occurred in his city during April. "I was
there negotiating with the Americans, but they broke the ceasefire so
many times," he stated firmly.
After what locals
considered a victory by the Fallujah armed resistance over US Marines
last month, Iraqi police and paramilitaries celebrated openly in the
streets, arm-in-arm with the very same mujahideen fighters whom the
US had directed them to rout. Even before the celebration began, while
Marines were still in the area, Iraqi policeman Ahmed Saadoun Jassin
smiled from ear to ear. "I cant describe to you the happiness
I feel right now," he said. "This is a victory for Islam."
Dhasin Jassim Hamadi,
a major in the ICDC, said relations with the US military are minimal
and strained. "During April the Americans bombed our headquarters
and killed three men," he said angrily. "But now we work under
the supervision of the mayor and conduct joint patrols with the police."
"We demanded
independence from the Americans," he added with a large smile.
"And we got it."
All of the Iraqi
paramilitaries and police claimed they command more respect from the
people of Fallujah now that the US forces have left the city. "It
is obviously better here without them, so of course the people respect
us more," said Amin, a 28 year-old member of the ICDC, who admitted
common crimes still pose a significant problem in Fallujah.
"Our situation
is unstable," explained a mechanic in the citys industrial
quarter in May who agreed to speak on condition of anonymity. "Only
as long as the mujahideen are allowed to run things here, there arent
as many problems."
Ill-equipped
and Undermined
Back in Baghdad,
members of the Iraqi security forces complain that US forces interfere
with their work.
Some police officers
say they are at times completely undermined by the US military in their
own police stations. Abdulla Ali, a policeman in the Al-Adhamiya district
of Baghdad, said that when the US Army conducts operations in the area,
they occupy his station as a tactical measure.
"When the Americans
take over our police station, they bring us all together and tell us
we are no longer in charge of anything," he said, holding up his
arms in exasperation.
A Baghdad police
officer used an anecdote to illustrate the contrast between Iraqi and
American methods of providing "security" in the city. According
to the policeman, who spoke on condition of anonymity, US soldiers occupied
his station and shot at a passing car from the rooftop. Then, he said,
when several Iraqis attempted to pull a wounded man from the car, the
troops opened fire on the would-be rescuers, too.
"This is the
usual policy of the Americans," the policeman said. "They
always shoot first, because there is nobody to punish them for their
mistakes." Further complicating the situation is what Iraqis and
some American officials characterize as the failure of the US-led forces
to properly equip their Iraqi surrogates.
In March, Major
General Charles Swannack became the first high-ranking American officer
to publicly criticize the US for failing to provide weapons to the Iraqi
Police and Civil Defense Corps. Along with other officials, Swannack
confessed that eleven months into the occupation, Iraqi security personnel
were lacking even the most basic protections afforded their American
counterparts.
Jamman Ahmed Al-Awany
is a commander of the Iraqi Police in Al-Anbar Province, the area west
of Baghdad that includes Fallujah. In charge of 10,850 policemen, Al-Awany
suggested that the sheikhs and religious men have helped to calm the
volatile situation in Ramadi better than US patrols ever could. Speaking
openly in his office there, he said, "There have been less attacks
on IPs here the last few months because so many of [the policemen] come
from this area."
IP spokesman Hamid
believes that with greater autonomy, the police force in Iraq would
earn more respect from the Iraqi people. "Most Iraqi people support
and encourage the Iraqi Police," he added.
Hamid expressed
confidence in the potential of the Iraqi Police to stabilize a society
growing seemingly closer to complete disorder by the month. "We
are ready to take over the security situation, because we know how to
do this." He said US commanders "will commit the biggest mistake
in their life if they dont let the Iraqis control the security
situation."
Yet many Iraqis
say they do not trust the police. A taxi driver in Karrada named Abbas
compared the police to gangsters and said they are particularly abusive
toward drivers.
"My internet
café was looted twice by local Iraqi Policemen," said Amin
Mamoud, a proprietor in the Al-Adhamiya district of Baghdad. "So
many of them are criminals themselves," he concluded.
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© 2004 The NewStandard.