US Training of Death Squads in Iraq? - War Is A Crime .org

http://www.truthout.org/cgi-bin/artman/exec/view.cgi/47/17875Police Tied to Death SquadsBy Solomon MooreThe Los Angeles TimesTuesday 21 February 2006US military officials say they suspect Iraq's highway patrol, staffed largely by Shiites, isdeeply involved in torture and killings.Baghdad - A 1,500-member Iraqi police force with close ties to Shiite militia groups hasemerged as a focus of investigations into suspected death squads working within the country'sInterior Ministry.Iraq's national highway patrol was established largely to stave off insurgent attacks onroadways. But U.S. military officials, interviewed over the last several days, say they suspect thepatrol of being deeply involved in illegal detentions, torture and extrajudicial killings.The officials said that in recent months the U.S. has withdrawn financial and advisory supportfrom the patrol in an effort to distance the American training effort from what they perceived tobe a renegade force."We don't train them, we don't give them equipment, we don't conduct site visits over there.They are just bad, criminal people," said a high-ranking U.S. military officer who advises theInterior Ministry. The officer was one of three who each spoke on condition of anonymity,saying they wanted to maintain relationships with Iraqi police officials and avoid retaliation byU.S. military superiors.Last month, Iraqi army soldiers stopped a 22-member squad of uniformed highway patrolofficers at a nighttime checkpoint in northern Baghdad and discovered a man in their custodywho told them the police planned to kill him. His contention was supported by confessions ofofficers in the squad, U.S. advisors said.U.S. officials have called 2006 "the year of the police" and have placed a renewed emphasison training officers. The Bush administration repeatedly has said the development of Iraq'ssecurity forces must occur before withdrawal of U.S. troops can begin.The U.S. military works closely with Iraqi army units, conducting joint operations and sharingspace on some military bases. By contrast, police forces have evolved far more independently inapproximately 11,000 stations and outposts around the nation.The result is a motley conglomeration of agencies under the Interior Ministry with overlappingjurisdictions and poorly defined functions.122