New Iraqi police officers ready to get to work

[unhappycamper]

Newly minted Iraqi policemen practice car bomb protocols at the Adl police station in Baghdad’s Mansour district that opened this month. The area hasn’t had a police presence since the war began. Soldiers with Company A, 1st Battalion, 64th Armor Regiment are helping the new policemen and are stationed just down the road.


New Iraqi police officers ready to get to work
By Geoff Ziezulewicz, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Thursday, February 21, 2008

BAGHDAD — The newly graduated Iraqi police who are manning a station that opened this month in the Adl section of Baghdad’s Mansour district don’t have much experience.

Before they set up shop, no police had operated in this predominantly Sunni area since the war began.

But, says U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Terry Blogg, experience isn’t necessarily an advantage.

“They’re not filled with bad habits,” said Blogg, of the 1st Battalion, 64th Armor Regiment’s Company A. “It’s like taking a brand new shooter. They’re raw clay.”

That clay may be put through a kiln in the coming weeks as the new policemen establish a presence in this community where there had been none.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=52652

[AlertLurker]

1. Just in time for the big dustup...