Newsweek: Cops, Killers & Moles (Iraqi Police)

[RamboLiberal]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6039826/site/newsweek/

At a police building in central Baghdad, portly officers chain-smoke and laugh at one another's jokes. The room is an Iraqi version of an American precinct station. A talk-radio program blares from a transistor in the corner, while a small TV on top of a filing cabinet broadcasts prayers at low volume. The walls are a smudged yellow, the floors streaked-white tile. The place smells of dirty socks and cigarette butts. One of the cops tells a joke about the Kurds. Everyone laughs.

An American we'll call Dave, wearing sunglasses, a baseball cap and a Beretta pistol strapped to his leg, has staked out a position near the door, as a colleague talks to the officer on duty. In his former life, Dave was a small-town police chief. Now he's on contract with the Department of Defense, which hired him to advise and assist the rebuilt Iraqi police force. "In all my years on the force, I never pulled my gun out as much as I have here," he says. "You're paranoid all the time."

Three of Dave's American co-workers have been killed since last spring, when he came to Iraq seeking a more exotic assignment (and a tax-free paycheck). Accomplishing his mission has been a struggle. Many young Iraqi officers don't even have badges. There's hardly any communication between police stations, warrants are routinely issued without being followed up and investigations rarely go anywhere beyond filing a little paperwork. Recently a handful of Dave's colleagues spent a night at another police station in Baghdad: "Everyone was sleeping," says Dave. "Our guys had to secure the building."

Other signs are even more disturbing. "Bullets. They're always asking for bullets," says Dave. "They can sell a 9-millimeter bullet for a dollar. There's no control. What they're really using them for, who knows?" The worry is that some police are supporting the insurgents. "We keep getting intel reports that that's happening," he says, shaking his head. "We're more worried about the older guys. Some of them have a history with the former regime, and they're less likely to change their ways."

[AndyP]

1. now that's an exit plan if I ever heard of one! <nt>