thedrifter
10-03-06, 07:50 AM
Posted on Tue, Oct. 03, 2006
OFFICERS RISK RETALIATION
Iraqi police being bullied by militias
Intimidation making it more difficult to stop murders, kidnappings
NANCY A. YOUSSEF
McClatchy Newspapers
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Efforts to halt sectarian violence in Iraq have been thwarted in part because Shiite Muslim militiamen and the politicians who support them routinely intimidate members of Iraq's nascent police force into allowing the militias to control the streets, according to a top U.S. military official, Iraqi politicians and Iraqi police officials.
The intimidation of police officers and their commanders is as big a threat to the authorities' ability to stop murders and kidnappings as the infiltration of the police force by Shiite militiamen, the U.S. military official said. Intimidation is a tougher problem because it can't be addressed by plucking infiltrators from the police ranks, the official said.
U.S. officials have warned that the militias pose a bigger threat to Iraq's stability than Sunni insurgents, and they've pressured Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government to root out militia members from the police force.
But U.S. officials say intimidation is a separate problem, one they don't know how to fix.
"If this were a case of all I do is go through and find the card-carrying (militia) members, yeah, that is pretty straightforward," said the U.S. military official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
But more and more police officers are being threatened by militia members to look the other way -- and they do so rather than risk retaliation.
"It's this world where a guy sticks out at some base for performing absolutely to standard, and then he gets leaned on to let someone through a checkpoint," the official said. Frequently, the police officer acquiesces.
On Monday, al-Maliki announced a plan with representatives of the largest political blocs to address the militias, saying that only the police should be armed and conceding that militias threaten the future of his government. But his plan offered no specifics other than to outline committees that will further investigate the issues.
Pressure on the police to cooperate with the militias comes from all levels of the organizations, said Mithal Alusi, a secular Shiite member of parliament. He said Iraqi politicians with militia links often call police commanders directly to gain cooperation.
Other Developments
• Gunmen abducted 14 computer shop employees in a midday attack in downtown Baghdad.
• At least 20 other people were killed in attacks around the country, including a noontime bomb blast in Baghdad's downtown Al-Nasir Square that killed four and wounded 13.
• The U.S. command said three U.S. Marines died in the western Anbar province Saturday. The British military said one British soldier was killed and another was injured in a mortar attack Sunday on their headquarters in Basra. Two children in a nearby home also were killed by one of the shells.
• Parliament voted to extend for another month the state of emergency, which has been in effect since November 2004.
Ellie
OFFICERS RISK RETALIATION
Iraqi police being bullied by militias
Intimidation making it more difficult to stop murders, kidnappings
NANCY A. YOUSSEF
McClatchy Newspapers
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Efforts to halt sectarian violence in Iraq have been thwarted in part because Shiite Muslim militiamen and the politicians who support them routinely intimidate members of Iraq's nascent police force into allowing the militias to control the streets, according to a top U.S. military official, Iraqi politicians and Iraqi police officials.
The intimidation of police officers and their commanders is as big a threat to the authorities' ability to stop murders and kidnappings as the infiltration of the police force by Shiite militiamen, the U.S. military official said. Intimidation is a tougher problem because it can't be addressed by plucking infiltrators from the police ranks, the official said.
U.S. officials have warned that the militias pose a bigger threat to Iraq's stability than Sunni insurgents, and they've pressured Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government to root out militia members from the police force.
But U.S. officials say intimidation is a separate problem, one they don't know how to fix.
"If this were a case of all I do is go through and find the card-carrying (militia) members, yeah, that is pretty straightforward," said the U.S. military official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
But more and more police officers are being threatened by militia members to look the other way -- and they do so rather than risk retaliation.
"It's this world where a guy sticks out at some base for performing absolutely to standard, and then he gets leaned on to let someone through a checkpoint," the official said. Frequently, the police officer acquiesces.
On Monday, al-Maliki announced a plan with representatives of the largest political blocs to address the militias, saying that only the police should be armed and conceding that militias threaten the future of his government. But his plan offered no specifics other than to outline committees that will further investigate the issues.
Pressure on the police to cooperate with the militias comes from all levels of the organizations, said Mithal Alusi, a secular Shiite member of parliament. He said Iraqi politicians with militia links often call police commanders directly to gain cooperation.
Other Developments
• Gunmen abducted 14 computer shop employees in a midday attack in downtown Baghdad.
• At least 20 other people were killed in attacks around the country, including a noontime bomb blast in Baghdad's downtown Al-Nasir Square that killed four and wounded 13.
• The U.S. command said three U.S. Marines died in the western Anbar province Saturday. The British military said one British soldier was killed and another was injured in a mortar attack Sunday on their headquarters in Basra. Two children in a nearby home also were killed by one of the shells.
• Parliament voted to extend for another month the state of emergency, which has been in effect since November 2004.
Ellie