Jones Commission recommends disbanding national police for sectarianism; Pentagon refutes; Iraq says no

Above: An Iraqi national policeman with the 6th Brigade, 2nd Iraqi National Police Division, searches a home during a night raid in Samarra in mid-August.

Scrap Iraqi police force, US report urges

The Iraqi National Police force should be scrapped and reorganized because of ethnic divisions in its ranks, a new U.S. report said on Wednesday as U.S. lawmakers argued over how to measure progress in Iraq.

"The National Police have proven operationally ineffective," said the independent commission headed by retired Marine Gen. James Jones, the former top U.S. commander in Europe. The report's conclusions and recommendations were obtained by Reuters.

"Sectarianism in its units undermines its ability to provide security; the (police) force is not viable in its current form," the report said. "The National Police should be disbanded and reorganized"...

"We do not believe it is necessary to disband the national police force," Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said. "We also acknowledge there have been real sectarian problems within the national police force. We recognize that. The Iraqi government recognizes that."

Read the rest at Reuters/Alternet

Iraq says won't disband police despite U.S. report

Iraq's Interior Ministry said on Thursday it would not disband the national police despite a report by an independent U.S. panel that will recommend scrapping and reorganising the force.

But police interviewed by Reuters on the streets of Baghdad spoke despairingly of a force they saw as harbouring criminal elements, too weak to tackle militias and with many police loyal to their sect rather than the state...

Iraq's Interior Ministry said the report represented only one point of view and that while sectarianism was an issue it was being dealt with, and in any case was not widespread.

"We respect that point of view but we disagree with it," ministry spokesman Brigadier-General Abdul-Kareem Khalaf said.

"We admit there were some problems before due to sectarian loyalties but this involved just a few people. It was not widespread ... it does not reach the level of disbanding the police," Khalaf said.

Read the rest at Reuters/Alternet

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