Officials Aim To Reform National Police in Iraq
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Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Efforts are underway to weed out up to one-quarter of Iraq's national police who are thought to be sympathetic to militias involved in sectarian violence, a key U.S. general said.
Army Lt. Gen. Martin Dempsey, who is in charge of training Iraqi forces, said yesterday that Iraqi officials are working to reform police, take more responsibility for their security and make financial investments in troops and equipment -- all steps toward freeing U.S. troops to return home.
"My message to you is that Iraq is reaching out to take control of its own security," Dempsey told a Pentagon news conference.
Speeding up training of Iraqi security forces is one of the most talked-about options as President Bush struggles to salvage the beleaguered Iraq campaign. And the future reliability of Iraqi forces is a big question.
Dempsey said that the instance of Iraqis actively involved with militias in violence -- or who look the other way and do not try to stop it -- is generally low among Iraq's security units, which include the armed forces, local police, national police and border agents.
The exception, he said, is the national police, which the Pentagon has described as a bridge force that was to handle law and order across provinces while officials worked to set up local community police forces.
