The New York Times reports that “an independent commission established by Congress to assess Iraq’s security forces will recommend remaking the 26,000-member national police force to purge it of corrupt officers and Shiite militants suspected of complicity in sectarian killings.â€
In fact, an administration official told the Times that the panel recommends that “we start over†completely. The units of the Iraqi police force have to be “scrapped†and “reshaped into a smaller, more elite organization.â€
The White House says that it is studying the report. Seemingly, it is willing to implement at least some of the recommendations. Having said that, the State Department and the Pentagon are “not giving up on the Iraqi National Police.†A spokesman said that both the US government and the al-Maliki government are determined to improve the Iraqi National Police, but are not willing to dismantle it completely in order to do so. The reason is, of course, that the police forces are one of the few forces that are (mostly) under al-Maliki’s control. If Iraq loses its police force temporarily, chances are all hell will break loose (looting anyone).
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