THEY AREN'T WLLING TO HELP

On Monday, June 4, Anne Garrels of NPR reported from Baghdad and found that the Iraqi police can't be trusted. You can find the audio at the link above and here's the relevant part of the transcript from Lexis-Nexis¹

GARRELS: The crew in the lead vehicle checks out the suspected bomb from a safe distance and radios back. There's nothing. This was once an area where Sunnis and Shiites live together. Militants, many associated with the Mahdi Army of Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr have resumed the push to drive Sunnis from their few remaining enclaves here. And the Shiite militias are attacking U.S. forces. They are increasingly using explosively formed penetrators know as EFPs - powerful bombs able to pierce armor. Major Erick Overby(ph).

Major ERICK OVERBY (U.S. Army): If an EFP is constructed well, if it's emplaced well and if it's detonated correctly, the results are disastrous for us. That's just the way it is.

GARRELS: And the battalion knows that members of the police who were supposed to be working with them are among those planting the roadside bombs. Angered by attacks on his soldiers, the battalion commander ordered a video camera hidden along a main road where American patrols had been hit repeatedly. The video showed Iraqi police laying a bomb that subsequently blew up as an American Humvee approached. Six Iraqi police have since been arrested. Troops are based in the midst of the community in combat outpost. Conditions are spurting. There's no Internet because no provider will dare come to this part of Baghdad. There's no TV hook up. Ferocious games of dominoes are one way to let off steam, and it's steamy. Frustration is the word heard most often from the soldiers. Captain Jay Wink (ph), the battalion intelligence officer, says as soon as one Shiite militia commander is removed, he's quickly replaced.

Captain TIMOTHY RITE (U.S. Army): It's frustrating. When we're trying to secure this area and everybody just kind off want s to close your eyes and pretend like they don't see what's going on.

Maj. OVERBY: As many cashes as we uncover, there's always more. There's an awful lot of weapons around. And still there's an awful a lot of very angry young men that really don't want us here.

GARRELS: A night patrol leaves the combat outpost in Amel and is immediately hit by gunfire and grenades.

GARRELS: Tit-for-tat attacks by Sunni and Shiite groups sometimes breakout into fierce battles. Many of the Masque have been bombed. Stores are largely shuttered, people living here just hide in their houses. On this night, the soldiers don't find any bodies. But last month, they found 249 - up from 98 when the battalion first arrived in March.

GARRELS: Capt. Reffino says these men are caught between a confusing array of players: al-Qaida, Shiite Militias, criminal gangs, terrified local people and Iraqi security forces he cannot always trust.

¹National Public Radio (NPR)
SHOW: All Things Considered 9:00 PM EST
June 4, 2007 Monday
LENGTH: 1147 words
HEADLINE: Violence Rages in Western Baghdad
ANCHORS: Rebecca Roberts, ROBERT SIEGEL