US Civilian and military leadership in Iraq has decided to form a paramilitary unit comprised of militiamen from the country’s five largest political parties to identify and pursue insurgents who have eluded American troops and Iraqi police officers, US and Iraqi officials said on Tuesday.The five parties will contribute a total of 750 to 850 militiamen to create a new counter-terrorism battalion within Iraq’s Civil Defence Corps that would initially operate in and around Baghdad. They said US Special Forces soldiers would work with the battalion, whose operations would be overseen by the US-led military command here. The party leaders regard the formation of the paramilitary force, which had initially been resisted by the occupation authority, as an acknowledgment that the Bush administration’s strategy of relying on Iraqi police officers and civil defense forces has been insufficient to restore security. The leaders contend Iraq’s municipal police departments and civil defense squads are too ineffective to combat resistance fighters. Although the new battalion is significantly weaker than the force the party leaders had hoped to create, the unit would nevertheless give the five political organisations an unrivaled role in the country’s internal security.That advantage has riled some independent members of Iraq’s Governing Council, who fear it could be used after the American occupation ends to suppress political dissent or target enemies. ‘‘This is a very big blunder,’’ said Ghazi Yawar, an independent council member. ‘‘We should be dissolving militias, not finding ways to legitimise them. This sends the wrong message to the Iraqi people.’’US officials said the battalion would be subject to rigorous conditions aimed at ensuring that the new unit does not become a collection of autonomous militias loyal to their party leaders instead of a unified commander. ‘‘They will have to leave their political identity at the door,’’ a senior American military official said. American officials acknowledge there is a risk in forming a new force with members of militia organisations, but they have agreed to support the venture largely because of pressure from the five parties, which have long argued that Iraqis should be given more responsibility for security. The parties contend their militiamen are better trained than existing Iraqi security forces and possess a degree of local knowledge that American soldiers lack.The battalion, equipped with light arms and vehicles, will be divided into five companies, each of which will work with a 10-man US Special Forces A-Team, which will provide logistics support and communications links with the American military command, the official said. The battalion’s initial missions will be approved by American commanders, but as the group matures and the planned handover of sovereignty nears next summer, it could begin to execute operations on its own, officials said. The group’s initial missions would focus on apprehending Saddam loyalists and other insurgents around the capital.(LAT-WP)
