US-Iraqi Joint Teams Lack a Key Weapon: Trust

March 17, 2007

JOINT SECURITY STATION SULAKH, IRAQ — The U.S. military command center inside this cramped Iraqi police station is off-limits to Iraqi police. A Humvee and two U.S. soldiers block access to the American side.

The barricaded police post in northwest Baghdad is called a joint security station, the latest U.S. effort at teaming American soldiers with Iraqi police to battle insurgents and militiamen. But at least for now, the station is literally split down the middle.

"We don't trust 'em," 1st Lt. Steve Taylor said of his Iraqi police counterparts. "There's no way to know who's good and who's bad, so we have to assume they're all bad, unfortunately."

The station's fortified rooftop flies an Iraqi flag, but no Iraqis are allowed there. It's restricted to American soldiers, who maintain a 24-hour watch over the adjoining neighborhood. With one eye, they watch for insurgents and militiamen. With the other, they watch their supposed allies, the police. >>>cont

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