Iraq Police Development Program Being Scaled Back But Not Ending Completely, U.S. Embassy Says

BAGHDAD — A pair of bombings killed four people Sunday in attacks targeting Iraq's security forces, officials said, while the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad maintained it will continue training Iraqi police despite cutbacks to the program.

The first bomb exploded near a security patrol in the western city of Ramadi, killing one policeman and wounding seven people. Hours later, a suicide bomber blew himself up at a security checkpoint in Baghdad, killing three people – including two policemen – and wounding nine more.

Police and hospital officials in both Ramadi and Baghdad confirmed the casualty figures. All spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information.

Violence has dropped across Iraq since the days when the country teetered on the brink of civil war just a few years ago, but deadly attacks still happen nearly every day. Insurgents launch frequent attacks on Shiites and security forces loyal to the Shiite-led government in an attempt to revive sectarian fighting in the country.

The U.S. Embassy's $500 million police training program has been touted as one of the main efforts to continue supporting Iraqi security forces in the wake of the American military's withdrawal last December.

A recent report by U.S. government auditors found that the Police Development Program is the embassy's most expensive initiative with Iraq. Last month, the embassy reported to the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction that it was withdrawing American advisers from the Baghdad Police College.

The New York Times reported Sunday that the embassy has dramatically slashed the program and may eliminate it by the end of the year.

The U.S. Embassy denied the report, saying in a statement Sunday that there are no plans to end the program completely.

Embassy spokesman Michael McClellan called the police training program "a vital part of the U.S.-Iraqi relationship." He said the move to turn over the police academy to Iraqi officials would help save money – but still allow advisers to help out in other ways.

The police training program started last October after more than two years of planning how best to set it up, according to the audit. A month later, the Interior Ministry's principal deputy minister, Adnan al-Asadi, told auditors that the program would be reviewed at the end of 2012 to see whether it was successful or necessary in the future.

The State Department has said for months that it is trying to trim, or "right-size" some programs to save money at the embassy in Baghdad, which has for years been the largest U.S. diplomatic mission in the world. The police program was identified in February as one program that might be reduced.

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Associated Press Writer Lara Jakes in Baghdad and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.

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Comments

[Liberals Are Intolerant]

08:45 PM on 05/13/2012

One of my friends took a bullet while embedded with these Iraqi Police (he fully recovered, thank god). That was like 5 years ago. Still, we are "training" them... when is their training going to end and when can they stand on their own?

[GCurry]

06:18 PM on 05/13/2012

What will determine whether or not the Iraqi Police Training program is continued is less how effective it is, and more how much money is to be made in sale of products and services to the program.

[Peter Van Buren]

05:37 PM on 05/13/2012

Note to Hillary Clinton: Before sending your drones to fib to Congress asking for money that should be spent here at home, and then wasting several billion dollars on a project in some foreign country, ask the foreigners if they actually want it first. If they do not want our help, how about returning the billions to the United States where we can sure put it to good use?

Note to Congress: The next time State comes asking for money, check if their lips are moving. That means they are lying to you. Please cut them off; they're like drunks loose in Vegas and can no longer help themselves. It'll be a mercy killing at this point.

Peter www.wemeantwell.com

[Katina Cooper]

05:10 PM on 05/13/2012

When will it end? How many more lives will be lost? How many more trillions will it cost? What do we do when China wants control of all our banks for the money they have loaned us? The republicans say that they want less government in our lives and yet they say nothing about the money being spent in those countries. They, and the democrats seem to want to spend even more money and waste more lives in the hope that they can get a winning war. It didn't happen for the Russians. It won't happen for us. The only thing it will do is bankrupt this country. It seems like the only time all these politicians realize that fact is when they wake up to no water, no electricity, no nothing.

[The Dude67]

12:34 PM on 05/13/2012

Iraq War.  Started by our government attacking its own people so that rich bastards with bank accounts in Luxembourg and the Cayman's can get a little richer.  

Cost:

U.S. Civilians ~3,000
U.S. Service personel ~5,000
Iraqi Civilians - ~1,000,000 (they're brown so no biggie)
U.S. Taxpayer bill - Trillions.

Benefit:

Bush, Clinton and Obama inner circle of friends - 100s of billions in ill gotten gains.
U.S. Citizens - negative all the way around
Iraqi Citizens - negative in the extreme

To all of you - and you know who you are - that smile as you loot and pillage.  Here's a message from my pal Phil Ochs - listen carefully:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Rni9Cwoe6g

[gravityhunter]

12:06 PM on 05/13/2012

What, really, was it all for? What was it worth?

[dewey13]

12:01 PM on 05/13/2012

This shouldn't cost us anything.

Everything was supposed to be paid with the oil we would get

[pbgardenpet]

11:53 AM on 05/13/2012

Just a waste of our money like everything else in that part of the country. These countries are just robbing. We just need to pull out everything and leave them with nothing.

[jistinnkees]

01:41 PM on 05/13/2012

Excuse me, I might be a little slow on the up take, but I seem to remember we had some type of issue with weapons of mass destruction that Sadam was hell bound on using on us. Or noble leaders proceeded to attack in a preemptive strike to save us from the impending doom. As we blitzed through Iraq in two weeks, and now ten years later we found nothing. Quite an unsettling event for the citizens and political structure of that nation I would think. Strange there is also some anti American sentiment because of this. You would think nations would be greatful when green boots kick in your door. I know I often sit at home waiting for a squat team to tear through my house. I buy thank you notes for just such an event.

[pbgardenpet]

06:52 PM on 05/13/2012

As I said any money spent is wasted.It is all tribal wars that will never be won.

[Dantee]

11:27 AM on 05/13/2012

What was our monthly cost in finance before we "ended" our occupation? Six billion? And what is it now? I've heard somewhere around 7.5 billion. That sounds about right.

[pbgardenpet]

11:53 AM on 05/13/2012

That's what we get for having an idiot as a so called leader. He is worthless.

[Dantee]

12:27 PM on 05/13/2012

If you're placing the weight of this corrupt government on one man as though he alone dictates all, then you're far too stupid to be in the discussion.