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April 18, 2004, Scotsman ARGYLLS' TRAINING PAYS OFF AS IRAQI DEFENCE FORCE GROWS IN SKILL AND CONFIDENCE Gethin Chamberlain LT Raheem Lafta Saafi holds up his hand and motions the white minibus to drive into the coned-off area at the side of the road an hour and a half from the Iranian border east of Basra. Behind him, his sergeant watches on, his AK47 pointing towards the ground, his foot on the lieutenant's rifle, to stop anyone making a grab for it. It is a British army tactic learnt from experience in Northern Ireland. The minibus driver pulls over but then goes to drive on. The Iraqi soldiers shout at him and raise their rifles and the minibus comes to a halt. It is just a misunderstanding; the driver and the two other men inside get out and the soldiers pat them down. Lt Saafi asks a few questions - who are they, where are they going? - then sends them on their way. A little further back along the road, the soldiers from the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders look on approvingly. The Iraqi Civil Defence Corps (ICDC) are getting better. The Argylls are in Iraq to train up the ICDC into an armed force capable of taking over responsibility for security when the coalition hands over control to a new Iraqi government. That, anyway, is the plan, and for the moment, it is progressing well. Already, there is a military structure in place, the soldiers have weapons and uniforms and an effective command and communication system. The soldiers have been through their basic training and the British are now drilling them in more specialised tasks. A few have been selected for a further 14 weeks training in Baghdad to become Iraq's new special forces, to take on anti -terrorist operations. But while attention has been focused on events further north, it has not been an easy couple of weeks in southern Iraq. The handling of Moqtadr al Sadr and his Mahdi army has not played well in Basra and the Shia towns in Maysan province to the north, and question marks hang over what will happen next. If the Americans decide to attack Sadr in the holy city of Najaf, there are many in the south who believe that the Shia, so-far relatively compliant, will erupt. If that was to happen, there are grave doubts about whether the new army, and particularly the new Iraqi police force, would be prepared to take on a new wave of insurgents, many of whom are known to them and their families. Lt Saafi joined the ICDC, he says, to serve his country. A business graduate, he gave his name to the authorities in Basra and was selected for training as an officer. He likes the training he has received, and believes that even now, the new force is close to being able to take over responsibility for security. God willing, he says, they will be able to take over when the British leave. But on the subject of Sadr he is reticent. He says that the ICDC has good contacts within the Mahdi army who can prevent confrontation and end any dispute peacefully. When he is asked what they would do if Sadr's people tried to seize control, the truth comes out: "We would stay in our barracks and guard them," he says. The Sadr militia, he says, have assured the ICDC that they will not be attacked, and there is a confidence among his men when they are carrying out patrols that is not shared by the British troops, and for good reason. On the way to join up with the ICDC patrol before it heads out of its well -protected Barouki barracks, the Argylls come under fire. Three or four bullets, low velocity rounds that pass harmlessly by, the soldiers say. Over the roar of the Landrover engines, it is hard to make out where they came from. In the last couple of weeks, patrols have come under regular attack. An attack with rocket propelled grenades cost one soldier a leg. A year after the war ended, the roads outside Basra remain dangerous. Route 6 to Baghdad is the worst, hijackers stopping vehicles at gunpoint and dragging out the drivers, sometimes stabbing them or slashing them with knives. Drivers are nervous of using the road, although the efforts of the British troops and the ICDC appear to be beginning to bite. The hijacking gangs have recently started threatening the ICDC soldiers, a sure sign that they are having an effect. A major who arrested a suspected kidnapper was told he would have to pay five million dinar, enough money to pay for lawyers to get him released and the charges dropped, or his son would be kidnapped. A sergeant, watching the ICDC set up another vehicle check point, is optimistic that they will succeed. As he yells at the young soldier manning a machine gun mounted on top of the ICDC pick-up truck to stop pointing it at the British soldiers, he says: "At first they would just look at you but now they are leading the convoy and doing it all themselves." The machine gunner, meanwhile, has pointed his weapon back down the road to cover the escape of any vehicle attempting to run the checkpoint. The Argylls are doing their best, attempting to pass on the tricks of the trade that they have picked up in Northern Ireland. There is a discernible sense of achievement at the progress they have made and a genuine pleasure at seeing their work bearing fruit. The ICDC already have the smart new brown uniforms, gold badges bearing a map of Iraq picked out in the national colours of red, white and black and a soon to be completed dollars 400,000 barracks complex, the Campbell Barracks, built with US cash. They look like soldiers; the question now is whether they can take that final step and turn themselves into an effective and independent force, able to rise above religious, tribal and family loyalties.
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................................................................................................................. Copyright ©2004 Gethin Chamberlain. All rights reserved. |
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