Are Police in Iraq Ready?

By Timothy J. Burger, DOUGLAS WALLER

As concerns mount about the readiness of Iraqi troops to take over the primary combat role in that country, a new progress report on the Iraqi Police Service, expected to be released this week, raises troubling concerns, including the likelihood that the police have been infiltrated by terrorists. The report, by the Pentagon and State Department inspectors general, concludes that the training has been beset with problems amid "high-level violence and a vibrant insurgency." Despite some improvements, the report says, "too many recruits are marginally literate; some show up for training with criminal records or physical handicaps; and some recruits allegedly are ... insurgents."

A U.S. military spokesman in Iraq said U.S. commanders largely agreed with the report and are following its recommendation to turn over the vetting of recruits to the Iraqis, who have postponed some training to redo background checks. The spokesman also said the Iraqi Interior Ministry has begun using a biometric database to track "ghost employees" who are on the rolls but don't show up for work. A senior U.S. military officer in Iraq, however, tells TIME that he disagrees strongly with one opinion included in the report--that the Pentagon was serving up unprepared Iraqi police as "cannon fodder." --By Timothy J. Burger and Douglas Waller