U.S. faces increasing challenge training Iraqi forces

By Missy Ryan

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - As the United States draws down in Iraq, its troops face the challenge of turning unseasoned Iraqi soldiers and police into a force capable of fending off threats to an emerging calm, a senior U.S. official said.

"Last year, we needed a basic policeman. This year, we need an investigator; we need a forensics specialist," Lieutenant General Frank Helmick, head of U.S. military efforts to train Iraqi police and soldiers, said in an interview.

As horrific sectarian violence raged in 2006 and 2007, the United States struggled to churn out Iraqi police and soldiers with minimum skills -- desperate to simply get men in uniforms out onto Iraq's bloody and chaotic streets.

Now, with the Iraqi military and police force over 600,000 strong, U.S. officials expect to shift from teaching recruits basic skills, like handling weapons or breaking down doors, to sophisticated tasks like evidence collection.

They will also focus on helping the U.S.-backed government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki draft long-term plans to clamp down on violence and excise a stubborn insurgency, they say.

"Last year's stuff was easy. It's easy to crank out a guy," said Helmick, who heads the U.S. and NATO force dedicated to advising Iraqi security ministries and supervising training of Iraqi police, Army, and its nascent Navy and Air Force.

"Now you've got to have a guy with technical skills. They have to understand the rule of law which is kind of foreign to them. It's much more complex," he said.

The abilities of Iraqi security forces, dismantled in the aftermath of the 2003 U.S.-led invasion to oust Saddam Hussein, is a pressing question as the United States reduces its combat role in Iraq and prepares to withdraw by end-2011.

A new U.S.-Iraqi security pact taking effect on January 1 will require U.S. operations to be approved by a bilateral committee. By June 2009, U.S. soldiers remaining in Iraqi cities are supposed to be restricted to a training and support role.

Under U.S. President-elect Barack Obama's campaign plan, U.S. combat troops may pull out by mid-2010. Obama has, however, acknowledged the possibility of a longer presence.

ONGOING VIOLENCE

Since June 2007, the Iraqi military has grown by 91,000 to around 230,000, according to U.S. figures. The police force grew by 74,000 in the same period to around 380,000.

While violence in Iraq has dropped sharply, the toll of bombs, shooting and other attacks marches on. Just last week, 50 people were killed in a suicide bombing near Kirkuk.

Some fear bloodshed could erupt anew ahead of provincial elections next month or if Iraq's minority Kurds cannot settle deep-rooted differences with majority Arabs.

Officials in Maliki's government paint a mixed picture of the readiness of Iraqi forces. On one hand, they are quick to point out the strides local forces have made in a few years.