Report: Basra Cops Switching Sides
Times Online:
Abu Iman barely flinched when the Iraqi Government ordered his unit of special police to move against al-Mahdi Army fighters in Basra.
His response, while swift, was not what British and US military trainers who have spent the past five years schooling the Iraqi security forces would have hoped for. He and 15 of his comrades took off their uniforms, kept their government-issued rifles and went over to the other side without a second thought.
Such turncoats are the thread that could unravel the British Army’s policy in southern Iraq. The military hoped that local forces would be able to combat extremists and allow the Army to withdraw gradually from the battle-scarred and untamed oil city that has fallen under the sway of Islamic fundamentalists, oil smugglers and petty tribal warlords. But if the British taught the police to shoot straight, they failed to instil a sense of unwavering loyalty to the State.
“We know the outcome of the fighting in advance because we already defeated the British in the streets of Basra and forced them to withdraw to their base,” Abu Iman told The Times.
“If we go back a bit, everyone remembers the fight with the US in Najaf and the damage and defeat we inflicted on them. Do you think the Iraqi Army is better than those armies? We are right and the Government is wrong. [Nouri al] Maliki [the Iraqi Prime Minister] is driving his Government into the ground.”
The reason for his apparent switch of sides was simple: the 36-year-old was already a member of the al-Mahdi Army which, like other militias, has massively infiltrated the British-trained police force in the southern oil city. He claimed that hundreds of others from the 16,000-strong force have also defected to the rebels’ ranks.Abu Iman joined the new Iraqi police force after the invasion, joining the Mugawil, a special police unit infamous for brutality, kidnapping and sectarian murders.
“We already heard two weeks ago that we were going to attack the Mahdi Army, so we were ready,” he said. “I decided to take off my uniform and join my brothers and friends in the Mahdi Army. All these years, we were like a scream in the face of the dictator and the occupation.” He said: “I joined the police because I believed we have to protect Basra and save it with our own hands. You can see we were the first fighters to take on Sadd-am and his regime, the best example being the Shabaniya uprising.”
Abu Iman said that the fighting raging in Basra yesterday was intense because the al-Mahdi Army was operating on its own turf. He was confident that the Shia militia would prevail because its cause was just.
“The Iraqi Army is already defeated from within. They come to Basra with fear in their hearts, knowing they have to fight their brothers, the sons of Iraq, because of an order from Bush and his friends in the Iraq Government. For this reason, all of the battles are going in the Mahdi Army’s favour.”
Major-General Abdelaziz Moham-med Jassim, the director of operations at the Ministry of Defence, played down reports of defections in the Basra police force. “The problem of one policeman doesn’t make up for the whole of the force,” he said.
In recent months Major-General Abdul Jalil Khalaf, Basra’s police chief, has tried to shake up the force and drive out militia infiltrators, who have wrought havoc in the past, often turning police stations into torture cells in which factions settled vendettas and power struggles with murder and abuse. But he only narrowly escaped an assassination attempt yesterday when a suicide car bomb attack in Basra killed three of his policemen. A local tribal leader said the police directorate building was later gutted by fire.
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Well that’s one way to weed out the Mahdi elements from the IA and IP’s? So much the better. I’d like to hear from someone on the ground. My view is that a few defections don’t mean a thing…except maybe a few more targets to destroy.
March 28th, 2008 at 4:57 pm[[My view is that a few defections don’t mean a thing……]]
And propaganda for the AP.
March 28th, 2008 at 5:06 pmWe are going to have to take down Basra like Fallujah. This will take some time.
March 28th, 2008 at 5:12 pmWould somebody kill the that Al Sadr bastard already!!!!!!! Get rid of that asshole, take out his gangland army and get that fucking country together! Why we didn’t take that bastard out sooner is beyond me???
March 28th, 2008 at 5:18 pm
If Abu Iman switched sides - he and the 15 should now be labeled with a target on their for heads.
March 28th, 2008 at 5:37 pmThey should have lit up all 15 of them.
March 28th, 2008 at 6:24 pmDon’t worry. He’ll be sucking Satan’s cock soon enough.
March 28th, 2008 at 6:28 pmA perfect example of why we are fundamentally fucked in our endeavor to free the poor oppressed people of Iraq.
March 28th, 2008 at 7:04 pmI say free them all with a liberal dose of nuclear fusion.
God forgive me…
Denghis,
I believe you meant nuclear fission but it sounded good all the same. Problem with nukes is the fallout. Since we have men there now, that is out of the question … BUT … carpet bombing with convensional weapons has a nice ring to it. DUST OFF THE B-52s BOYS!!!
If I don’t get my hope of seeing the carpet bombing of Basra (without advanced notice, that is), I would have to agree with Lone Wolf. It will take some time to weed out those fuckers. They can call it “Operation Fallujah Part III, The Reckoning of Basra”.
March 28th, 2008 at 10:57 pmCPLViper, what happened to all those neutrons? Heard they’re really clean.
March 29th, 2008 at 12:22 amIs one American life worth giving up for these lunatics? I know we have committed ourselves to helping these people but it seems impossible sometimes. The Shia in Basra are the same people we were going to back up after the first war but pulled the plug on, they were Saddam’s enemies and now they are ours.. great. We want to win their hearts and minds but they have neither.
March 29th, 2008 at 6:28 amMark
I think everyone has their doubts from time to time. its natural, but the Sunnis are clearly on our side now. they at one time were our enemies and are the same sect of Islam as Bin Laden himself and the rest of AQ. that to me is a big victory in itself. these radicals of Al Sadr’ militia will be taken down with time and it will deal a huge blow to Iran. we’re on the 10 yard line over there. we will win this war because the Iraqi army and police are now ‘functional’. loosely termed but still.
These 15 who have switched sides can be considered loose change. they are now legitimate targets as well. just my opinion
i definitely get what you’re saying and it makes plenty of sense.
March 29th, 2008 at 9:17 amWTF is this? These yahoos apparently cannot be trusted. Reminds me of WW2 when the Italians realized that the Germans were going to lose the war, so the Italians conviently switched sides. The only difference is; at least the Italians made the right choice. These yahoos in Iraq that are traitors are marching to their death. And actually that is a good thing too! Get them out of the way now.
March 29th, 2008 at 10:12 am