US trains, and monitors for moonlighting by, Iraqi forces

BAGHDAD -- US troops aren't just training Iraqi forces, they're also keeping an eye on them, watching for signs that they could be moonlighting in the Shi'ite death squads that target Sunnis.

Bound and tortured bodies, both Sunni and Shi'ite, turn up every day in the capital, dumped in the streets. Sunni Arabs say their people are the victims of Shi'ite militiamen who have infiltrated government forces, especially paramilitary commando units of the Shi'ite-led Interior Ministry.

In Dora, one of the Baghdad's most violent neighborhoods with a mix of Sunnis and Shi'ites, US troops working with Interior Ministry units say they can feel the Sunni mistrust.

''There's a fear that when (the Interior Ministry) comes in, it may not be on a legitimate mission, unless they're with us," said Lieutenant Colonel Greg Butts, commander of the 2d Battalion, 506th Regimental Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division that oversees Dora.

Gaining public acceptance of the Interior Ministry commandos, recently renamed the National Police, has become a priority for US forces. American commanders plan eventually to hand over counterinsurgency operations in large swaths of Baghdad and other cities, including Samarra, to the Interior Ministry as part of the broad effort to move US troops into a background role -- and eventually out of Iraq.

But both US and Iraqi officers say winning public trust will take time.

Sunni leaders in Dora have even warned US commanders that they will fire on commandos who try to approach their homes, Butts said.

It is not an idle threat. Earlier this month, residents in the Sunni neighborhood of Azamiyah battled for two days against Iraqi forces, believing they were Shi'ite death squads. As many as 13 people were killed

Suspicion does not run as deeply toward the Iraqi Army, a better-trained force controlled by the Defense Ministry, which is run by a Sunni. However, Interior Ministry commandos play a major role in many counterinsurgency operations, especially in the Baghdad area where sectarian tensions run high.

Many Sunnis consider them indistinguishable from Shi'ite militias.

Last week, US Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad warned that militias form the ''infrastructure of civil war" in Iraq. The Iraqi government must incorporate them into its armed forces so that their loyalty is to the state, not their sectarian leaders, he said.

But determining a commando's true allegiance is not easy.

During a recent patrol in Dora, one commando turned on his cellphone to proudly display an image of Moqtada al-Sadr, the radical anti-American cleric. Sadr's powerful Mahdi Army of militiamen is accused by Sunnis of attacking their mosques in retaliation for the Feb. 22 bombing of a Shi'ite shrine in Samarra, north of Baghdad.

US commanders have launched an effort to gain the public's trust for the Iraqi forces.

For example, Butts said that about 150 Sunni Arab recruits were recently added to an Interior Ministry battalion operating in Dora to better diversify the force. Before, the battalion, which numbers about 500 men, was 97 percent Shi'ite.

US trainers are pushing the commandos to move more often into neighborhoods to meet residents and to do good-will missions, such as trash cleanups.

The commando squads have been renamed the National Police. But a name change probably doesn't resolve much. The Wolf Brigade, possibly the most feared commando unit, was recently renamed the Freedom Brigade. But mention of the commandos still invokes fear and hatred among many Sunni Arabs.

To allay those fears, American soldiers have handed out thousands of cards that encourage residents to call authorities if they see commandos, or fighters posing as commandos, on suspicious missions without US troops. The calls go directly to US headquarters instead of the Interior Ministry.

So far, US troops haven't caught any renegades, Butts said. They get a tip and ''we'll be out there in 10 to 15 minutes, and no one will be there," he said. ''There are a lot of rumors. . . . A lot of people are scared." US troops in Dora have orders to halt unfamiliar patrols and confirm their identities.

Shi'ite leaders say that Iraq's Sunni insurgents stir mistrust by disguising themselves as Interior Ministry commandos to stir up trouble. Since commandos do not wear a standard uniform -- four different uniforms were seen in one squad -- insurgents can easily disguise themselves by purchasing similar outfits in the markets. Only recently were commandos banned from wearing ski masks to hide their identities.

Butts said that for many Iraqis, the only proof that a commando is with the Interior Ministry is if he is ''standing next to a coalition vehicle."

On a recent patrol through Dora, the commandos were met with mix reactions.

In one cluster of apartment buildings, they were greeted by smiles from mostly Shi'ite residents, some of whom asked for more patrols.

But in areas with larger Sunni populations, slurs against the troops were spraypainted along several blocks. So long as that tension remains high, commando units will need US help to repel the insurgency and contain sectarian violence, said Lieutenant Ali Abdul Redha, one of the new Sunni commandos.

''If [US troops] leave Iraq now, there will be a big civil war," he said. ''For example, do you know we cannot enter Dora without coalition soldiers? That's the way people there want it."

Some US trainers of the Iraqi police say the Interior Ministry force is on track to do independent patrols by the fall. But many American soldiers say much work needs to be done. For example, the intimidated commandos rely too much on checkpoints and often find excuses to skip out of foot patrols where they could confront rebels and gain the trust of residents.