The Associated Press BAGHDAD, Iraq Feb. 26 — Retired Iraqi special forces Gen. Mudir Aboud greeted U.S. forces with a white flag when they rolled into Baghdad 10 months ago and told them where they could find Saddam Hussein's remaining fighters. After months of U.S.-supervised training, Aboud on Wednesday took command of 6,800 Iraqi Civilian Defense Corps soldiers based in Baghdad. American officers say the new force will soon take over security duties in the capital as they reduce their presence here.
Apart from a few grumbles about his new rank he is now a colonel Aboud says he is proud to lead the force, but complains his men do not have enough tools to take on the insurgents, who are increasingly attacking local police and soldiers.
"We are still using old weapons from the Iraqi army," he said after a commissioning ceremony for him and eight other officers at 1st Armored Division Headquarters here. "We need better communication and transportation, and more training."
Officers here acknowledge that the force, which numbers around 25,000 countrywide, is under equipped, but say they plan to provide it with trucks, communication devices and better weapons soon. For now, its troops normally go on joint patrols with American soldiers.
The corps faces a daunting task battling the insurgents, who have mixed hit-and-run tactics with a series of devastating suicide bombings in cities around the country. American officers here believe that guerillas are a mix of loyalists to ex-leader Saddam Hussein and al-Qaida fighters that have infiltrated the country.
Coalition authorities started training the force in July. Around half of its members are ex-soldiers with the Iraqi army. They get paid a starting salary of around $140.
Since May 1, when President Bush declared that major combat operations in Iraq had ended, 263 U.S. soldiers have been killed. Iraqi police and ICDC causalities are equally as high, American commanders estimate.
On June 30, the United States will formally end its occupation when it hands over power to an Iraqi interim authority. While coalition forces will still be in overall charge of security, U.S. commanders are eager to give the corps a front line role.
"For the past year, we have been leading from the front," said Brig. Gen. Martin Dempsey, commander of the 1st Armored Division, which is in charge of Baghdad. "Now we are reducing our footprint."
Both U.S. and Iraqi commanders claim that the attacks on Iraqi security forces the latest of which killed seven police officers in Kirkuk on Monday have not dented the numbers of people applying to join up.
Deputy Interior Minister Ahmed Kadhum Ibrahim, who is in charge of the Iraqi police force, said there was no shortage of recruits to the force, which coalition authorities are also funding.
"Many civilians are coming to join," he told The Associated Press recently in his office at the National Police Academy. "They want to fight for freedom."
As Ibrahim spoke, recruits could be heard practicing in the academy's firing range. Outside his office, a long line of people waited for application forms, apparently backing up his claim that people were wanting to join up.
"It's worth the danger because of the love for our country," said Noman Thabit, one of the hopefuls.
This is really good to read. They can already see the difference in their country and realize that the potential is unlimited.
