Over 500 Iraqis join police in Anbar

[Barrett808]

Over 500 Iraqis join police in Anbar
By VIJAY JOSHI, Associated Press Writer
Tue Aug 22, 7:10 AM ET

BAGHDAD, Iraq - More than 500 Iraqi men have joined the police in restive Anbar province — a focal point of the Sunni Arab insurgency — in the most successful recruiting drive in the region by U.S. and Iraqi forces, the U.S. military said Tuesday.

...

U.S. Marines screened thousands of applicants earlier this month in various regions along the western Euphrates River valley before shortlisting the recruits for the Anbar police force, said a statement by the U.S. command.

Most American deaths this month have been in Anbar province west of Baghdad, where support for the Sunni Arab insurgency runs deep. The latest casualties in Anbar were two Marines and a sailor who were killed in combat Sunday. All three belonged to the Regimental Combat Team 7, which conducted the three-day police recruitment.

Maj. Lowell Rector, head of the police transition team for RCT-7, called the recruiting drive the most successful the U.S. and Iraqi forces had launched since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003, according to the statement.

(more)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060822/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq

[xultar]

1. Extremely good news for the Iraqi people.

[Monkeyman]

2. if they don't run like all the others do

[sofa king]

3. Or aren't fifth columnists, as they've often been.

[The_Casual_Observer]

4. There have been a steady stream of these kind of reports for the last 3 +

years out of the place. Why would I expect that this one is less bogus than all the others?