Iraqi militia not ready for prime time

TIKRIT, Iraq — A foot patrol of U.S.-trained Iraqi civil defense officers emerges from an alley into the bustle of this city's main highway. Quickly, some of the men wrap scarves around their faces, fearful of being recognized by insurgents attacking Americans and their Iraqi allies.

The 16 Iraqis, armed with AK-47 assault rifles, are part of the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps, or ICDC, meant to be one of the country's key emerging security forces. But cracks are beginning to show in at least one part of the corps, here in Tikrit, five months after its first men hit the streets.

Some U.S. trainers in Tikrit say the Iraqi force is ill-equipped, prone to corruption and so trigger-happy that some have shot at their own comrades. Added to that is the threat of anti-American guerrillas targeting Iraqis cooperating with the coalition.

By some estimates, it will take years before this ragtag militia of former Iraqi soldiers, impoverished farmers and jobless men and youths will be able to shoulder the burden of securing Saddam Hussein's hometown.

"It will be a while," said Staff Sgt. Hugo Olveraleija, 26, one of the trainers. "These guys are farmers."

Along with a new army and police force, the civil defense force, it is hoped, will gradually take over when U.S. soldiers leave. U.S. commanders in Baghdad have touted the force as a success so far and say it's ready to take over control of all but a few neighborhoods in the capital. Brig. Gen. Martin Dempsey said U.S. troops in Baghdad now rarely conduct raids or patrols without civil defense officers.

In Tikrit, Olveraleija and another American soldier led the Iraqis on patrol Friday morning near a base that houses the Army's 4th Infantry Division at one of Saddam's riverside palace complexes. He was angered to see some of them covering their faces as they moved out onto Highway No. 1, a busy thoroughfare of shops and restaurants that has been a shooting gallery for insurgents attacking U.S. forces.

"You can see that they're scared, covering up their faces," he said.

The Iraqis say they have good reason to hide. Jassim Sliem, 21, said men in two cars followed him to his family's home one recent night and asked him what he was doing at the base. Frightened, he lied that he was a detainee just released from the base lockup.

Others say their lives have been threatened.