Recruitment Rush

They're butchers, bakers and fast-food makers with Russian rifles and mismatched uniforms. They hail from Arizona, Syria and Norway and they...

They8217;re butchers, bakers and fast-food makers with Russian rifles and mismatched uniforms. They hail from Arizona, Syria and Norway and they8217;re here to forge a new Iraq. As the long-feared armies and security tentacles of Saddam Hussein8217;s government are replaced, the US-funded Free Iraq Forces hopes to fill the vacuum and become the heart of the new army. They have a way to go. At the Air Base 71 Imam Ali Camp outside Nassiriya, several hundred men line up for morning roll call after their commander barks three times to get a move on.

Some have guns raided from the Iraqi military. Many of their pants don8217;t match their brown 8216;8216;chocolate chip8217;8217; camouflage shirts, as they stand in wavy lines.

Most already in the ranks say they8217;re motivated by freedom and patriotism. But the clothes, US-packaged meal rations and promise of 150 a month are tempting perks in a devastated economy.

8216;8216;We want justice and freedom,8217;8217; said Majid Hussani, 33, an Iraqi exile recently returned from Syria, before adding: 8216;8216;Until now, they haven8217;t paid us anything and we8217;re not very happy about that. They told us they8217;d pay us.8217;8217;

Funded under the Iraq Liberation Act passed by Congress in 1998, the fighters are overseen by 200 US Special Forces and other troops who drive them around, feed, clothe and train them.

As trucks entered the camp Sunday, a rumour spread that new AK-47 automatic weapons and RPGs had arrived from the US. Some of the commanders weren8217;t sure that was such a good idea, however.

8216;8216;We8217;re all familiar with Kalishnakovs,8217;8217; said Abdul Hamid Salman. 8216;8216;Every Iraqi knows how to use them.8217;8217;

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The Free Iraqi troops have mounted patrols into neighbouring villages since their arrival from northern Iraq aboard US C-17 aircraft a week ago. Lines of authority are a work in progress. 8216;8216;Everyone has the same rank,8217;8217; said Abdul Salam Kubisi. 8216;8216;It8217;s not like the army. It8217;s more like brothers, which is much better.8217;8217;

A US Special Forces soldier watches the Iraqis line up from an all-terrain vehicle. 8216;8216;The problem is, they really don8217;t have platoon commanders,8217;8217; he said. 8216;8216;There are a few officers, but they8217;re only giving orders over very big groups.8217;8217;

Many of the uniforms 8212; winter coats, wool gloves and forest-green pants that stand out in the desert 8212; were shipped from Hungary, where some of the Iraqi exiles underwent training exercises shortly before the war.

Roughly half of the soldiers are Iraqis returning home, others never left, while still others arrived recently from Iran, the United States, Jordan, Syria, Britain, Norway, Canada and Jordan, among others. LAT-WP