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Desert Academy

By Chris Herbert,

Nine Iraq police recruits from the Jordan International Police Training Centre were recently shot dead in an ambush on their way home from the camp. Chris Herbert reports from the training school, where he talked to some of the 68 UK officers there about their jobs and the hazards facing the recruits

Gunned down in cold blood in a minibus just outside Baghdad airport, nine police recruits, fresh out of training school in Jordan, never even made it home.

Someone had tipped off the gunmen who the newly qualified officers were. In the raid that followed, bullets ripped through the bus, killing the recruits as they left the airport.

They were returning home in October after spending eight weeks training at the Jordan International Police Training Centre near the country's capital, Amman.

'That really hit home,' says Det Ch Insp Kate Halpin, of the Met, who commands the 68-strong contingent of British officers at the college.

The ambush of the minibus full of recruits from the college's ninth class was shortly followed by the execution by militants of 50 Iraqi army recruits.

The camp's British officers sit alongside a multinational force comprising 325 staff from 16 different countries including the US, Canada, Singapore, Poland and Sweden. The UK officers volunteer for either a six-month or year-long secondment and their forces are reimbursed for their absence by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The US officers, however, have to resign from their forces to work on overseas missions and are employed by a private company.

Det Ch Insp Halpin says that when the Iraqi police were used to quell riots in the Iraqi city of Najaf, recruits from the Jordanian college who had been trained in public order by UK officers were specifically called up because of the high quality tuition they had received.


http://www.janes.com/security/law_en...1203_1_n.shtml

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Insurgents able to get detailed schedules and routes.. there is a bad leak there somewhere.

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"When I'm in command, every mission is a suicide mission!" -Capt. Zapp Branigan
The United Church of the Latter Day Tangential Tarts

I have no doubts there are leaks. But it also can be learned just by observing. Like the policemen who were waiting to get their paychecks the other day. I'm sure it's been observed when they collect their pay and where.

It's a huge problem......but an expected one. Everyone knew this kind of thing was going to become more prevalent the closer they get to elections. What gets me is.......somebody knows when these cars are being loaded with explosives. Somebody sees this. Where are the brave Iraqi's who can warn others?

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"What exactly is this foreign policy experience?" Obama said mockingly of the New York senator. "Was she negotiating treaties? Was she handling crises? The answer is no."

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US Administration Says It Does Not Minimize Iraq Insurgency
By David Gollust State Department, 8 December 2004


The Bush administration said Tuesday it is not trying to minimize the seriousness of the Iraqi insurgency. The comments follow news accounts of a Central Intelligence Agency report warning that the security situation in Iraq is deteriorating. The State Department says the administration has a clear-eyed and realistic view of the insurgency. But it says insurgent attacks, which have claimed the lives of scores of members of Iraq's fledgling security forces in recent days, are only one part of a complex situation in the country.

The comments followed publication by the New York Times Tuesday of details of what was said to be a farewell report by the outgoing CIA station chief in Iraq, warning that security conditions in the country were deteriorating, and may not improve anytime soon.

The tone of the leaked document appeared much more pessimistic than public statements in recent days by Bush administration officials, who have focused on opportunities presented by the planned elections there at the end of next month.

Among other things the CIA official, who is said to have finished a year-long term in Iraq last month, reportedly warned of more violence and sectarian clashes unless there is a marked improvement in the Iraqi government's ability to assert authority and build the economy.

At a news briefing, State Department Deputy Spokesman Adam Ereli said he would not comment on the contents of what he said was a privileged diplomatic communication.

http://www.voanews.com/english/2004-12-08-voa3.cfm
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If you are at all religous, start praying really hard for Iraq now if you haven't already.

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"When I'm in command, every mission is a suicide mission!" -Capt. Zapp Branigan
The United Church of the Latter Day Tangential Tarts

-------------------------Source: Reuters------------------

Iraqi police buses ambushed


From correspondents in Baghdad
December 15, 2004

INSURGENTS attacked buses carrying Iraqi police from the southern city of Basra to Baghdad today and several police officers were killed, a senior police source said.

The source said the police were ambushed near the town of Salman Pak, about 30km south-east of Baghdad, and said a number were dead.

"The street is littered with bodies," he said. "Fighting is still going on."

Iraq's Interior Ministry had no immediate information on any attack.
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Good news is the insurgents are targetting freeIraqis forces rather than coalition soldiers.

Bad news is the recruitment/retention/survival rates among FreeIraqi forces are way down.

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"When I'm in command, every mission is a suicide mission!" -Capt. Zapp Branigan
The United Church of the Latter Day Tangential Tarts

ThereseM will differ with you. She stated in another thread that Iraqi Police are doing well..not great but they are improving. She stated that because its a 3rd World Country, we shouldn't expect things to improve overnite. This BTW, was the Iraqi Police Force that "Bernie" did such a great job with!

the insurgents are doing exactly what I would do if the situation were reversed.

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I wasn't born with enough middle fingers.