Source: Reuters
By Suadad al-Salhy and Michael Christie
BAGHDAD, Aug 20 (Reuters) - Massive truck bombs that killed almost 100 people after shattering the facades of the Iraqi foreign and finance ministries have cast doubt on the ability of Iraqi security forces to protect the country from attacks.
Many Iraqis wonder whether U.S. troops who pulled out of cities at the end of June under a bilateral security pact will be deployed again to fill security gaps.
The bomb attacks aimed at undermining the Shi'ite-led government were sophisticated and well-organised, bearing the hallmarks of al Qaeda or of former military officers loyal to ousted dictator Saddam Hussein's outlawed Baath party.
But analysts say Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki may have backed himself into a corner by hailing the U.S. pullback as a victory for Iraqi sovereignty six years after the U.S. invasion. It would be politically unpalatable ahead of national elections in January to have to back-track, and summon U.S. help.
WHAT'S GONE WRONG?
Analysts say Iraq's security forces have been lulled into a false sense of confidence by the decline in the past 18 months in the sectarian violence that killed tens of thousands.
Inspections of vehicles at checkpoints in Baghdad have become lazy - Iraqi police and soldiers do not search cars fully for explosives or subject identity documents to a proper review.
The security forces are also relying on permanent, fixed checkpoints, rather than roving and impromptu checkpoints that would make it more risky for insurgents or militants to move around. The fixed checkpoints are easy to avoid.
"They have changed their tactics but our security policy remains the same. This policy was a success when our enemy was in the streets fighting us face to face. But now they take the initiative and have the ability to attack anywhere at any time," said an Iraqi security expert, asking not to be identified.
Wednesday's attacks were political, aimed it seems more at undermining the Shi'ite-Kurdish government in Baghdad than in reigniting sectarian bloodshed. The security forces need to be more flexible to cope with shifting, less predictable targets.
ARE POLITICAL RIVALRIES CREATING VULNERABLE TARGETS?
Iraq's simmering feud between majority Arabs and semi-autonomous Kurds, lingering sectarian strains between Shi'ites and once dominant Sunnis, and pre-election rivalry between Shi'ite factions, may have ensured that the foreign and finance ministries were easy targets.
The foreign ministry run by Kurdish minister Hoshiyar Zebari is protected by Kurdish Peshmerga while the streets outside are guarded by forces of the government. Neither side talks to each other or coordinates defensive tactics, experts say.
The finance ministry, meanwhile, is controlled by one of the main Shi'ite factions, the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council (ISCI), but is located in a part of Baghdad inhabited mainly by Sunnis.
The U.S.-backed Sunni neighbourhood militias that play a role in ensuring security in the area likely pay little attention to the security needs of the ministry and some members could conceivably be persuaded to turn a blind eye to threats. The vulnerabilities created by the unresolved ethno sectarian disputes in Iraq make it all the more important that Maliki's government make peace with Kurds and ensures that Sunnis feel they have a fair share of power, analysts say.
WHAT DO IRAQI FORCES NEED TO DO TO PROTECT THE COUNTRY?
The fight against terrorism is rarely won by deploying large numbers of troops at checkpoints or in the streets, security analysts and military officers say.
Domestic intelligence gathering is hampered by rivalries, government insiders say. "We create intelligence agencies but instead of collecting information about our enemies they write reports on each other," complained one Iraqi security expert.
The United States is supporting Iraq's efforts to defend itself by sharing the information it collects through both human and technological intelligence networks. But some Iraqi military leaders say it is not doing enough.
"They only give us intelligence information when it affects the security of their own troops," an Iraqi general said on condition he not be identified.
DO THE IRAQIS NEED U.S. HELP?
Maybe. But the question is also possibly moot.
Even if Iraqi officials decide they need U.S. military help in order to defeat the remaining cells of al Qaeda or Baath party loyalists, they may not ask for it.
Maliki has staked his political career on the celebration of Iraq's restored sovereignty, and is seeking credit for the sharp drop in overall violence over the past 18 months ahead of January's election.
Wednesday's bomb blasts struck severe blows to Maliki's reputation and image and he has ordered a review of security. Yet the prime minister is likely to insist that Iraqi troops and police alone ensure the country is safe from future attacks.
Even if U.S. forces are pulled back into the fray in cities, they are unlikely to be able to prevent every bomb attack -- there were far more bombings and civilian casualties when the U.S. army was leading the fight than there are now. (Writing by Michael Christie; Editing by Samia Nakhoul)
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Top Iraq security officials urge change after bombs
21 Aug 2009 16:40:44 GMT
Source: Reuters
* Iraq officials want to review security force competence
* Iraq still needs U.S. help in intelligence, tech issues
* Changes to prisoner release programme urged
* Foreign involvement suspected, calls for new strategy
By Khalid al-Ansary
BAGHDAD, Aug 21 (Reuters) - Senior Iraqi officials called on Friday for a thorough review of their security forces, improved intelligence gathering and tougher treatment of terrorism suspects and detainees after massive truck bombings in Baghdad.
Wednesday's blasts killed 95 people and wounded over 1,000 in Iraq's deadliest day this year. The bombs targeted what should have been among the most heavily guarded sites -- federal ministries -- and shattered public confidence in Iraqi forces.
The defence and interior ministers were among officials at a special meeting which decided on a set of proposals to submit to the Political Council for National Security, whose members include the president and prime minister.
Parliament will hold an emergency meeting next week to discuss security issues, lawmakers said.
"I maintain that we need U.S. support for a specific time, until our abilities are complete in intelligence and technical issues," said Interior Minister Jawad al-Bolani, his statement out of tune with recent Iraqi claims of independence.
Iraq celebrated its sovereignty when U.S. troops withdrew from urban centres in June, thrusting Iraqi forces into the lead role more than six years after the U.S. invasion in 2003.
A series of huge explosions have shaken Iraqi confidence since then, though bomb attacks were also common when U.S. forces were in charge.
One proposal was for a way to "fix the random release of detainees", a reference to thousands of Iraqis released from U.S. detention this year under a U.S.-Iraqi security pact. The plan calls for prisoners to be set free if there is no evidence to convict them in an Iraqi court.
An amnesty law passed last year also led to the release from prison of thousands of mainly Sunni Arab prisoners not convicted of major crimes, a move meant to foster reconciliation between minority Sunnis and the Shi'ite-led government.
"There has been a kind of tolerance ... in the treatment of detainees and the investigation of them, under the pretext of believing in human rights, forgetting the rights of the hundreds of innocent victims...," said deputy parliamentary speaker Khalid al-Attiya, a Shi'ite politician, who was at the meeting.
INTELLIGENCE, FOREIGN MEDDLING
Proposals like that could hamper reconciliation between Sunnis and Shi'ites, whose bloody sectarian feud triggered by the invasion has only abated in the last 18 months or so.
Bolani said the government was also rethinking a plan to remove most blast walls from Baghdad within 40 days.
"There is a re-assessment on this issue. I think this policy will continue. Some will be lifted and some will stay, according to the evaluations of field commanders," he said.
Like others in the Iraqi government, Bolani alluded to meddling by foreign states as a cause of security violations.
"Some parties, factions and individuals may have their own relations with certain countries, but if we do not develop strategic relations ... that safeguard Iraq's interests, one of the threats to Iraq is foreign interference," he said.
Many members of Iraq's Shi'ite leadership have close links to Shi'ite Iran, where some lived in exile during the rule of Sunni dictator Saddam Hussein. The U.S. military accuses Iran of funding Shi'ite fighters in Iraq.
Sunni states Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Syria are also accused by some Iraqi officials of supplying cash, fighters or weapons, partly to counter Iranian influence. Iraq's neighbours deny it.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and other officials have warned that attacks are likely to intensify ahead of parliamentary elections in January.
Some analysts and many members of the public blame intra-Shi'ite rivalry or disputes between Iraq's Shi'ite, Sunni and Kurdish political groups for the violence.
In any case, Iraqi intelligence gathering must improve, said lawmaker Falah Shanshal, a member of parliament's security and defence committee.
"We're not on a battlefield, we're in a battle of information and intelligence," he said. (Additional reporting by Muhanad Mohammed and Mohammed Abbas, Writing by Mohammed Abbas: editing by Tim Pearce)
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