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A couple military officials in Mosul are quoted in the following story.
Link to Full Article
By RICHARD A. OPPEL Jr. and JAMES GLANZ
MOSUL, Iraq, Nov. 29 - Iraqi police and national guard forces, whose performance is crucial to securing January elections, are foundering in the face of coordinated efforts to kill and intimidate them and their families, say American officials in the provinces facing the most violent insurgency. [...]
In the northern city of Mosul, almost the entire police force and large parts of several Iraqi National Guard battalions deserted during an insurgent uprising this month. Iraqi leaders had to use Guard battalions of Kurdish soldiers to secure the city, kindling ethnic tensions with Arabs. Police stations in western Mosul have perhaps several hundred officers in an area that is supposed to have several thousand.
For those brave enough to come to work, "right now, all they're doing is looking out the window and making sure the bad guys aren't coming to get them," said an American military official in Mosul, who did not want his name to be used.
There are some bright spots among individual battalions of the Iraqi National Guard troops and Iraqi commandos. When operating under the direct control and oversight of American forces, some have helped in raids and other missions and continue to be used when American commanders want to enter mosques and other culturally sensitive targets, as happened in Falluja. [...]
But places like Mosul are a particular worry for American commanders, who so far have been unable to slow the insurgents' campaign of intimidation. In the past 11 days, the bodies of at least 69 Iraqis have been found around Mosul, some with notes attached condemning their work for the Iraqi forces or with their military identification cards placed atop their bodies.
Even where there have been apparent successes, there are complications. American officials in Mosul, for example, single out the 106th Iraqi National Guard Battalion as performing with professionalism. But in an interview, the battalion commander said half of his troops were Kurdish, not Arab.
American commanders praised the Iraqi commandos who took part in a battle to repel insurgents who attacked a police station here two weeks ago. But an American company commander who joined the fight, Capt. Bill Jacobsen, noted that of a force of slightly more than 100 commandos, 10 had been killed and 27 wounded. [...]
Infiltration remains a problem. After the uprising, the Mosul police chief was quickly dismissed and was later arrested on suspicion of complicity with the insurgents.
When a captain in the Mosul police force, Abu Muhammad, was asked if the police had been penetrated by the mujahedeen, he took a long, deep breath.
"Yes, and this is the problem, and I do believe that they have contacts with senior policemen in Mosul," he said. "There is kind of cooperation between the two parties."
Comments For "Iraq's Forces Founder Under Rebel Assaults":
In the USA the fastest way to 6 feet under is to kill a police officer. I don't know why the Iraqi population doesn't better support their own security forces.
Posted by: Grammy | November 30, 2004 3:36 PM
There are 2 boneheaded mistakes we have made that simple history should have taught us better.
First, we should have created a national ID card and issued one to every citizen. Tied into a national database this would have been a huge advantage in identifying foriegn insurgents, baathists, and suspected insurgents. The Brits did this in Malaya in the 50s, the fact that we havent we our level of technology is inexplicable.
Second, we should have learned a lesson from Elliot Ness. If the local authorities are corrupt or intimidated, you bring in people from far away without families or local ties. The Iraqis need their version of the Untouchables. The Kurds that have come in to restore order prove the point, but they have their problems obviously. Sunnis and Shiia from Baghdad should be patrolling Mosul. And Mosulites patrolling Tikrit, etc. Again, this is an obvious problem with an obvious solution that simply hasnt been corrected.
Posted by: Mark buehner | December 1, 2004 7:45 AM
Gee... with the negative spin of this article and the digs against the Bush Administration, one would swear the electorate hadn't already voted overwhelmingly to re-elect the President. I just can't figure out why they say the press is biased and takes a negative view of the war...
Posted by: JPL | December 1, 2004 10:17 AM