Notes on the Iraqi police force

One of the main goals of the troop surge is to prepare the Iraqi police force to keep control of the country when we leave. General information about the training of the forces is available from larger news sources. Here are my impressions of the force at the joint security station where I have been working for the past few months.

There are 40 or so policemen that show up for shifts although the official roster boasts well over 100. I am not impressed with their conduct and can't say much for their training. The MP's stationed with us go out on routine patrols with them. From what I can tell the Iraqi policemen are unprofessional and do things their own way. They have opened fire on civilian vehicles for questionable reasons, and I have seen them come back to the JSS injured from IED blasts and gunshot wounds on several occasions where I haven't seen any MP's or our guys injured.

They do not handle their weapons in a controlled manner the way we do, by that I mean muzzle awareness (keeping the gun pointed at the ground). That is the most detectable sign that they don't know what they're doing. There are also safety checks with a weapon that they don't do, resulting in a few accidental discharges. I have seen them carry handguns without a holster (tucked in the belt), and they have been given extendable batons, but are not trained to use them.

Although they are supposed to be trained to similar standards as our police, they do not have the same level of discipline. I have heard that the lower level officers are not respected within their group due to inexperience and the higher ups have a tough time enforcing rules and regulations regarding conduct.

After 1700 their shirts go untucked and they put on sandals. Their group seems to get along well, they eat together and have good relations. The core of the group seems to be devoted to the job, suggesting they will stay together after we leave. All in all however, they are undertrained and do not manage their resources. Every ten days they are given a ration of water which they squander with tea and quick baths, cleaning their face and hands. The result is that they ask for water from our supply and we have to tell them no. The same goes for fuel. They do not have enough fuel to conduct their patrols and are willing to steal from our supply. As a result we have to run a long chain through the handles of the plastic gas cans to secure them.

Most of these policemen are the able bodied men from the village across the street. Their reach extends into the surrounding community, and there are informants and supporters which help them out. Our unit is attempting to give them a working police station so we can back out. The framework is there, but signs of progress are lacking. These guys look almost like a militia group with machine guns and AK's rather than a protective force. It might be argued that they are prepared to act rather than react to violence. Eventually they are supposed to work together with the Iraqi Army, which has a similar but farther reaching role. The two groups are somewhat at odds, and I think the Army is trained better. The guys look more serious at least.

On the personal level they seem like good people bound by their religion, Islam. I like some of them and in general our guys get along with them. This has nothing to do with the job they do however. I wish them luck, but do not expect much.