Our conversation ranged widely, to a number of topics that merit further examination in later posts: Al-Sheikhly expressed concern over the thousands of displaced families returning to the mixed neighborhoods they abandoned at this time last year. Today, concrete barriers separate war-torn neighborhoods and will remain until all sides agree they can come down. Al-Sheikhly also observed, “if the Americans withdrawal quickly all the troops from Iraq, there will be a bad situation” — the understatement of the day.
The most alarming statement of the day concerned al-Sheikhly’s matter-of-fact assessment of the future of the “Sons of Iraq” (SOI). Their ranks are made up of local Iraqis — some former insurgents — who are paid to protect their neighborhoods and have been a central factor to squeezing out al-Qaeda and Shia militias throughout the country. Tens of thousands of these paramilitary security personnel operate in Baghdad alone — and I have
witnessed their effectiveness.
Al-Sheikhly was certain their days are numbered: “The program will be ended before 2009.” The entire SOI program . . . disbanded by year’s end? I ask, incredulously. “Yes, you will see no one wearing their uniforms in Baghdad.” This, taken as the official policy from the official spokesman, was worrisome news.
The previous Maliki plan was to transfer 20 percent of current SOIs to the Iraqi police, while training the other 80 percent for gainful employment outside the security realm. Thus far, the process to meet the 20-percent quota has moved very slowly, with only a small percentage of SOIs donning a police uniform. And from my conversations with American military, the plan to train the other 80 percent exists, but is inadequate.
Even if they are “trained,” scores of those moving into other vocations — electricians, carpenters, and mechanics — will make dramatically less money, on top of the drop in prestige as they transition from valiant defender to rank-and-file worker. Pushing young Iraqis back out on their own too soon — with insufficient police forces to backfill them and/or inadequate civilian training — will cause serious problems.
When I press him on this point, al-Sheikhly responds, “We can’t make all the society police and soldiers. We are against that.” Understandably, the Maliki government doesn’t want a police state (they also don’t want more armed Sunnis in their capitol). Yet these concerns must be weighed against the idle hands of thousands of Iraqi males who, according to al-Sheikhly, may soon be back on the street and available to the highest bidder — al-Qaeda included.
While payment of the SOIs should be passed into Iraq hands (currently U.S. forces pay their salary), a precipitously disbanded SOI in Baghdad could, no
would, jeopardize the security environment. This is something American officials need to head off, and head off soon. Most American leaders would prefer that most SOI transition to the Iraqi police, but this is unlikely to happen, so they must negotiate a conditions-based compromise that doesn’t create an instant recruiting boom for insurgent groups.
After exhausting this point, our conversation ends cordially, and al-Sheikhly rushes off to his next appointment, weaving his way purposefully between the Al-Rasheed’s tables and through hanging clouds of smoke. Baghdad is fortunate to have such a courageous, sect-blind Iraqi spokesman in its corner. Iraq will need many like him, making ear-to-the-ground decisions that take full advantage of our hard-fought security gains. Though we might occasionally disagree over the particulars, we must be ready partners in their efforts to rebuild a great city and a great nation.
— Pete Hegseth served in Samarra, Iraq with the 101st Airborne from December 2005 to July 2006 and has returned there as an embedded correspondent for NRO as part of Vets for Freedom's “Back to Iraq” effort. Pete is a captain in the Army National Guard.< Back 1 2 
