The U.S. government, which wants to be appear neutral in the coming election, plans to rely on the Iraqi forces to be the frontline face of when people go to the polls. But there are signs that they will not be able to handle insurgents intent on disrupting the vote.
Hammond said four of seven National Guard battalions assigned to the capital are prepared for the task. "In my opinion, the current state of the Iraqi National Guard, by God, the glass is half-full," he said. "These guys want to be part of the solution."
A 7-year-old girl, standing near an Iraqi guardsman in Baghdad, cries after a car bomb exploded near her school. A senior guard official escaped injury.
(Ali Jasim -- Reuters)
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Iraq War Dead
p>Total number of U.S. military deaths and names of the troops killed in the Iraq war as announced by the Pentagon yesterday: 1,324 Fatalities in hostile actions: 1,040 In non-hostile actions: 284 Staff Sgt. Todd D. Olson, 36, of Loyal, Wis.; Army National Guard 1st Battalion, 128th Infantry Regiment, based in Neillsville, Wis. Died Dec. 27 of wounds sustained in Samarra on Dec. 26. Total fatalities include three civilian employees of the Defense Department. A full list of casualties is available online at www.washingtonpost.com/nation SOURCE: Defense Department's www.defenselink.mil/news The Washington Post
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Sinclair said the challenge in preparing the Iraqi troops is cultural. "They lack discipline, and I believe sometimes they think that it is not dangerous for them," he said, referring to the country's volatile security situation.
In the case of the police station south of Tikrit that was attacked on Tuesday, he said, the officers were caught off guard "and it cost them their lives."
Meanwhile, eight Iraqi employees of the Sandi Group, a company based in Washington, were reported by the Associated Press on Tuesday to have been killed by militants who kidnapped them two weeks ago. There was no immediate confirmation of the deaths. The Sandi Group, which provides security and other services in Iraq and claims to be the country's largest private-sector employer, said it was trying to verify the report.
In Baghdad, meanwhile, Gen. Mudher Mulla, the chief of staff of the Iraqi National Guard, escaped injury when a car bomb went off near his home in the Tunis neighborhood. One civilian was killed and eight were injured, witnesses told al-Jazeera satellite television.
Mulla, a Shiite Muslim, was a general under Hussein.
Witnesses said the car containing the bomb appeared to have been parked among a long line of vehicles waiting overnight for gasoline, a common sight in the capital.
Iraqi National Guardsmen patrol the fuel lines and gas stations and often fire warning shots to keep crowds under control.
In a separate incident, insurgents paid a small boy $35 to carry a bag of explosives into a crowded gas line at a station in the Mansour neighborhood of Baghdad. The boy had second thoughts and told the police, foiling the attempted attack, Iraqi officials said.
Correspondent Karl Vick and staff writer Josh White in Baghdad and special correspondents Hasan Shammari in Baqubah and Salih Saifaldeen in Tikrit contributed to this report.
