Iraq and Afghanistan

Today’s paper offers an Op-Ed with a careful look at the training of the new police force in Iraq. It points out that in spite of a great deal of advice, our government has consistently short-changed the effort. because of insufficient funds the final decision was to offer an eight-week training program for new police officers (compared to six months in the United States). This period is further shortened by the need to translate everything that is said into Arabic and then back into English. Even then only 8000 men have completed the course. Most of the new recruits were simply handed a badge. The advisory group sent to Iraq over a year ago to estimate needs suggested that the United States bring in 6000 international police advisors for a population of 25,000,000. Yet one year later, there are only 500 in the country.

The problem is compounded by the fact that the recruits start the training with no idea of how a modern police force should operate. What astounded the recruits most was the concept of “human rights”. In their experience, police are little more than a rag-tag gang of extortionists. ( For this reason, 32,000 of the old police have been “reprogrammed” to meet new requirements.) Another anomaly is that the police are trained for ordinary police duty American style (with, for example, seminars on domestic violence) and then sent out to guard the new government’s offices.

The seriousness of this failure is suggested by the fact that this police force will for many Iraqis be the new face of the government. Its first task should be to change the attitudes of people who see lack of security as the main failing of the new system. The country is beset by what is reported to be a very serious crime problem that goes far beyond that associated with the insurgency (especially revenge killings, kidnapping, and robbery). The force described by this reporter will do nothing to change the popular impression that the Americans and the new government have done nothing for the country.