U.S. arming of Iraq cops skates close to legal line

U.S. arming of Iraq cops skates close to legal line
Required checks on rights abuses skipped
By Cam Simpson and Liz Sly
Tribune correspondents
Published April 16, 2006, 6:31 AM CDT

WASHINGTON -- U.S. officials are doling out millions of dollars of arms and ammunition to Iraqi police units without safeguards required to ensure they are complying with American laws that ban taxpayer-financed assistance for foreign security forces engaged in human-rights violations, according to an internal State Department review.

The previously undisclosed review shows that officials failed to take steps to comply with the laws over the past two years, amid mounting reports of torture and murder by Shiite-dominated Iraqi security forces. The review comes at a time when the U.S. military emphasis in Iraq has switched to training and equipping Iraqi forces to replace American troops.

As Iraq slides deeper into sectarian violence, the performance of U.S.-supported Iraqi units could be crucial, because some are infiltrated by militias believed responsible for much of the current strife.

The laws in question are called the Leahy Amendments for their author, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.). Unless the administration reports to Congress that "effective measures" are being taken to bring abusers to justice, it is supposed to cut off support for any unit in a foreign security force whose members commit serious human-rights violations. Units also are supposed to be vetted before receiving assistance.

But the internal memo suggests that U.S. officials believe it is not possible to comply with the laws in Iraq, noting the "burden of following the usual State Department procedures as they are practiced at other posts would vastly overwhelm available resources."

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