http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/10/world/middleeast/10baghdad.html?hp&ex=1155182400&en=f760270853662925&ei=5094&partner=homepageThe American soldiers stopped at the corner to watch 20 members of the Iraqi national police force search a Sunni mosque in Dawra, a violent neighborhood in southern Baghdad at the heart of the new American drive to secure the capital.
The first camouflaged Iraqi emerged proudly with a quarter-pound of TNT, which he immediately delivered to the Americans. Others handed over evidence bordering on the bizarre: a roll of white string and a pink dress.
“It’s funny, they do this all the time — ‘Hey, check this out,’ ” said Lt. Col. Gregory K. Butts, commander of the United States Army infantry battalion responsible for Dawra. He shook his head at the mix of eagerness and lack of discipline in a unit that nominally, at least, had been fully trained. “Then they go in and get something else,” he said. “We’re close by in case they need some help.”
Baghdad was supposed to be the showcase for an Iraqi force that was strong enough to manage the city of six million to eight million, and could eventually take over as American troops pull out of Iraq. But as the city has slid into increasing chaos, the American military has reversed course, sending thousands more troops in to bolster the raw Iraqi forces who have been assigned control of 70 percent of the capital in recent months.
Several days spent in Dawra with the Americans and accompanying Iraqi units, including the Sixth Brigade of the national police force, illustrated some of the shortcomings that American officers say the Iraqis still show. Two years after the start of an all-out training effort by the United States and its allies, many of the early troubles remain: weak discipline, divided loyalties, failure to complete tasks, the tendency to fire wildly in every direction at the first sign of danger.
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