http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A858-2003Nov4.htmlThe U.S. administrator of Iraq has decided to conditionally support the creation of an Iraqi-led paramilitary force composed of former employees of the country's security services and members of political party militias, according to U.S. and Iraqi officials.
Iraq's U.S.-appointed Governing Council wants the force, which would pursue resistance fighters who have eluded American troops, to include a domestic intelligence-gathering unit and to have broad powers to conduct raids and interrogate suspects. Such characteristics would make the proposed force different from those created under other security initiatives undertaken by the Americans, who until now had expressed opposition to the idea.
The council leaders contend that Iraq's municipal police departments are too weak -- and American soldiers too lacking in local knowledge -- to combat the supporters of former president Saddam Hussein, Islamic militants and foreign guerrillas who are attacking American forces and Iraqis cooperating with the U.S.-led occupation. "We need a security force that is run by Iraqis, that is more heavily armed than the police and is able to act quickly," said a senior official of the Iraqi National Congress, whose leader, Ahmed Chalabi, has participated in discussions about the new unit.
Although the U.S. administrator, L. Paul Bremer, had initially opposed the creation of a paramilitary force under the control of the country's interim interior minister, he has softened his position as attacks, particularly on Iraqi targets, have increased. Bremer no longer has "any objection in principle" to the force, but wants to ensure several conditions are met in vetting, training and supervising the participants, a senior U.S. official here said.
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