In Search of Iraqi Loyalty

What we see happening thus far in places such as Fallujah, Najaf and Karbala is a calculated decision by Iraqi clerics, provincial leaders, and ex-Iraqi army generals and security forces to avoid direct confrontation with insurgents who, as Bush contends, would threaten democracy in Iraq. To the extent Iraqi leaders intervene, it is only to discourage the use of American power and to protect Iraqi lives and property. Useful, perhaps, but it's a far cry from stepping into the fray to bleed and die for the advance of freedom.

Much is made of Iraq's transition to sovereignty and the need to produce a semblance of national government with legal institutions. Of equal concern, at least to me, is the willingness and capacity of Iraqis to take greater responsibility for their own security.

Let's go back to Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba's scathing report on abuse at Abu Ghraib prison. Attention has rightly focused on the mistreatment of Iraqi detainees. But the second part of the Taguba report examined prison escapes and the guarding of detainees. Overshadowed by accounts of abusive American behavior were reports of misbehavior by Iraqi guards themselves.

Taguba said that the loyalty of Iraqi guards was questionable and that they were a potentially dangerous contingent within the prison, to wit: "one of the detainees . . . had gotten a pistol and a couple of knives from an Iraqi Guard working in the encampment"; "an Iraqi guard assisted a detainee to escape by signing him out on a work detail and disappearing with him."

The question of loyalty looms large today in Iraq. Loyalty to what? Allegiance to whom?

Where is the Iraqis' testament to their love of freedom? Where is their commitment to the defense of their country against fellow Iraqis and Arabs who may be insurgents, terrorists and former Hussein loyalists?

We'll know soon enough. Meanwhile, democracy, and the blessings of liberty in Iraq, despite our best efforts, are on hold.

kingc@washpost.com