Iraqi Security

Police Gen. Ahmed Ibrahim gathered hundreds of his men during a ceremony at the Police Academy here last week to tell them a few truths about the enemy they face. The regime of Saddam Hussein let Iraqis suffer, he reminded them, while its leaders lived in unimaginable luxury. At that, a Rolls-Royce was driven onto the pavement where Ibrahim was speaking. "Look at that car," he said. "It used to belong to Uday!"

The balding head of Hamid Hussein had been sliced open with a sword. Bright scarlet blood flowed down his sunburned face, trickling down and staining the white robes worn by his 5-year-old son, Hussein. It was a momentous day for father and son. They were observing Ashura, the annual religious holiday when Shiite Muslims display penance and mourning with self-inflicted wounds to commemorate the 7th century martyrdom of Imam Hussein, a grandson of the prophet Muhammad. There was one more reason to note the day: U.S. forces were nearly gone from all of Iraq just three weeks before the Dec. 31 deadline for their withdrawal.

Two U.S. generals gave poor marks Sunday to Iraqi security forces for a lack of readiness, assessments that bode ill for Iraq's ability to fend for itself as pressure builds in Washington to draw down American troops. Though both military leaders said Iraqi soldiers had made progress in recent months, one said the Shiite-led Iraqi army lacked top-notch senior officers. Both described the national police force as riddled with corruption and sectarianism.

Insurgents launched four attacks early Wednesday against Iraq's security forces, killing 27 people as the Persian Gulf nation prepares for the departure of U.S. troops at the end of the year. A car bomb exploded outside a restaurant where police officers were dining in Madhatiya, near the city of Hillah. The blast killed a dozen people and wounded 43, according to security and health officials. In Baghdad, a drive-by shooting at a police checkpoint in the Qahira neighborhood left two police officers dead and two wounded.

The U.S.-led coalition will accelerate the training of Iraqi security forces to help combat an increasing number of attacks targeting police and civilians, Coalition Provisional Authority head L. Paul Bremer III said Saturday. The coalition plans to cut in half the training time for 27 battalions of a new Iraqi army, Bremer said.

Rarely do U.S. military officials talk about the month-old security crackdown in Iraq without mentioning three words: "joint security stations." The stations are considered crucial to the plan's success because of their emphasis on giving Baghdad's toughest neighborhoods a 24/7 troop presence. Four years ago today, U.S.-led forces invaded Iraq to topple Saddam Hussein.

The question was direct. So too was the answer. "Where's your biggest threat area?" asked Marine Maj. Phillip Zeman. "Anywhere, everywhere, sir," answered Cpl. Phil Shy as their Humvee sped through what was left of Fallouja's commercial district Friday. Two months after Marines wrested control of the Sunni Triangle city from insurgents in a weeklong battle, some of the war-weary units involved in the fight are close to going home. But the U.S. job here is far from over.

Insurgents briefly raised the black flag of Al Qaeda in Iraq over a mostly Sunni neighborhood of Baghdad on Thursday during a brazen assault that killed 16 people and laid bare Iraq's fragility as the withdrawal of U.S. troops accelerates and the country's political crisis deepens. Ten of the dead were from the security forces, four were members of the U.S.-allied Sunni militia Awakening, and two were civilians, according to the Ministry of Interior. In addition, at least 14 people were injured, and police said the casualty toll could rise as sporadic clashes between security forces and gunmen continued into the night.

The public war on the Iraqi insurgency has led to an atmosphere of hidden brutalities, including abuse and torture, carried out against detainees by the nation's special security forces, according to defense lawyers, international organizations and Iraq's Ministry of Human Rights.

The U.S. national intelligence director, John D. Negroponte, met Friday with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki during an unannounced visit, the second stop this week by a top Bush administration official amid signs of strain between the two governments. The visit by Negroponte, who previously served as U.S. ambassador here, came as dozens more died in the continuing violence in Iraq.

Stephen Everhart was brought to Iraq by the U.S. Agency for International Development to assist the University of Baghdad's business college in qualifying for international accreditation. He was killed Thursday outside the gates of the university when a powerful bomb commonly used by Shiite Muslim militias detonated. The attack highlighted the precarious position of contractors for the U.S. government and Embassy as the American military prepares to leave the country. Militia groups, some with ties to the Iraqi government, are intent on hitting U.S. diplomats, soldiers and contractors employed by the embassy.

A suicide bomber Sunday killed 10 police officers and wounded 19 others who had gathered at the site of a failed car bomb attack on the U.S. military just north of Baghdad, while six people were killed by a wave of bombings in the nation's capital, Iraqi security sources said. A car bomb blew up as a U.S. military convoy passed near Taji, the site of a major military installation north of Baghdad, but caused no damage to the Americans, according to an Iraqi security official. When police gathered by the site, a suicide bomber approached and blew himself up, the security official said.

A massive leak of classified U.S. documents from the Iraq war Friday details hundreds of incidents in which American troops found evidence that Iraqi security forces were abusing prisoners, including reports that U.S. soldiers did not always take steps to stop the violence. The accounts of prisoner mistreatment by Iraqi forces are the most explosive element of the nearly 400,000 classified reports made public by WikiLeaks in one of the largest leaks of classified material in American history.

A U.S. government study released Monday found that Iraq has a budget surplus of $52.1 billion, with $11.8 billion that is readily available for spending on its security forces. The study by the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, comes as lawmakers prepare to debate a $2-billion funding request from the White House for the Iraqi security forces. "Billions of dollars that Iraq has budgeted for security have gone unused. As U.S. troops withdraw, the Iraqi government must take a larger role in providing security throughout the country," the report said.

Insurgents briefly raised the black flag of Al Qaeda in Iraq over a mostly Sunni neighborhood of Baghdad on Thursday during a brazen assault that killed 16 people and laid bare Iraq's fragility as the withdrawal of U.S. troops accelerates and the country's political crisis deepens. Ten of the dead were from the security forces, four were members of the U.S.-allied Sunni militia Awakening, and two were civilians, according to the Ministry of Interior. In addition, at least 14 people were injured, and police said the casualty toll could rise as sporadic clashes between security forces and gunmen continued into the night.

Four Islamic extremists escaped from a prison in the Baghdad airport compound that the U.S. military had handed over to the Iraqi government with great fanfare last week, state television reported Thursday. The escape from under the noses of Iraqi and U.S. military forces was sure to raise questions about the competence and loyalties of officials running the prison system as the number of American troops falls to 50,000 by the end of next month. The detainees who escaped included men who served as de facto finance and interior ministers for the Islamic State of Iraq, a militant umbrella group dominated by Al Qaeda in Iraq, the report said.

Iraqi security: In an article in Friday's Section A about the transition of control of military patrols from the Americans to the Iraqis, a quote from U.S. Army Lt. Col. John Richardson of the 5th Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment, was incomplete, making it unclear who he said is now in control of operations in his section of Baghdad. Richardson was quoted as saying, "With this relationship you have one battalion commander . . . in the lead." The full quote is: "With this relationship you have one battalion commander, an Iraqi battalion commander, in the lead.

A group headed by Jordanian militant Abu Musab Zarqawi released a video Saturday showing its fighters executing five captured Iraqi security officers in the street, the latest move in a campaign to intimidate Iraqis and target those who cooperate with U.S.-led forces. Also Saturday, a U.S. soldier belonging to Task Force Baghdad was killed and another was wounded in a roadside explosion north of the capital, the military said. No other details were given.

The room filled with mistrust as more than 70 tribal sheiks arrived Thursday to discuss the problem of violence with some of Iraq's army commanders. The sheiks, dressed mainly in dark blue robes, had come by bus to the headquarters of the 24th Brigade of the 6th Iraqi Army Division. They were met by soldiers wearing red berets and forest green uniforms. Tension was unavoidable, as residents of Abu Ghraib see the mainly Shiite army unit in the area as heavy-handed.