We’ve learned quite a bit recently about U.S. forces in Iraq deciding to work with Sunni militiamen, some of whom were killing Americans up until fairly recently, in taking on al Qaeda in Iraq. Apparently, we’ve also taken to training some of them to bolster Iraqi Security Forces.
On an open dirt field just a few miles outside the U.S. base in Fallujah, about 50 Iraqi men dressed in dusty green uniforms march in formation while their Iraqi drill leader shouts instructions…. A lot of these trainees were in the police or the army under Saddam Hussein. Some were part of Sunni tribal militias that until recently were linked to insurgent groups fighting U.S. forces. Most were recruited by local Sunni sheikhs who now have agreed to help American troops fight al-Qaida. […]
For now, these men get only eight days of training and at the end of it, they get to keep their gun and their uniform. The idea is that eventually this second-string police force will go through the full training at the Anbar police academy, which opened a few weeks ago.
That’s it? Eight days? I know the U.S. military has truncated basic training for American troops, but we’re giving Sunni militiamen eight days of training and then welcoming them into the Iraq Security Force?
As Aravosis noted, it takes 7 days of training to become a Starbucks barista. The fact that the two last a similar amount of time is not at all encouraging.
As if we didn’t already have enough concerns about the integrity of the Iraqi military.
Staff Sgt. David Safstrom does not regret his previous tours in Iraq, not even a difficult second stint when two comrades were killed while trying to capture insurgents.
“In Mosul, in 2003, it felt like we were making the city a better place,” he said. “There was no sectarian violence, Saddam was gone, we were tracking down the bad guys. It felt awesome.”
But now on his third deployment in Iraq, he is no longer a believer in the mission. The pivotal moment came, he says, this February when soldiers killed a man setting a roadside bomb. When they searched the bomber’s body, they found identification showing him to be a sergeant in the Iraqi Army.
“I thought: ‘What are we doing here? Why are we still here?’ ” said Sergeant Safstrom, a member of Delta Company of the First Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry, 82nd Airborne Division. “We’re helping guys that are trying to kill us. We help them in the day. They turn around at night and try to kill us.”
And let’s not forget this one from the fall, either.
The top U.S. military commander in Iraq, Gen. George W. Casey Jr., predicted last week that Iraqi security forces would be able to take control of the country in 12 to 18 months. But several days spent with American units training the Iraqi police illustrated why those soldiers on the ground believe it may take decades longer than Casey’s assessment.
Seventy percent of the Iraqi police force has been infiltrated by militias, primarily the Mahdi Army, according to Shaw and other military police trainers. Police officers are too terrified to patrol enormous swaths of the capital. And while there are some good cops, many have been assassinated or are considering quitting the force. […]
“I wouldn’t let half of them feed my dog,” 1st Lt. Floyd D. Estes Jr., a former head of the police transition team, said of the Iraqi police. “I just don’t trust them.”
Jon Moore, the deputy team chief, said: “We don’t know who the hell we’re teaching: Are they police or are they militia?” […]
“It’s very, very slow-moving,” Estes said.
“No,” said Sgt. 1st Class William T. King Jr., another member of the team. “It’s moving in reverse.”
I’m sure after eight days of training, there’s nothing to worry about.