In Iraq, US troops widen role as soldier-teacher

"It's a little better now, but I still don't leave my home unless I have to for work," says Saleh Ahmed, an Iraqi police officer. "No one is safe still." As if to hammer home his point, Mr. Ahmed sits in the front seat of a blue and white police pick-up truck with a blown-out windshield and pockmarked doors, the scars of a recent IED attack.

More worrying, especially for those eager to see a US withdrawal, is the fact that many US soldiers say the Iraqi security forces still have a long way to go.

"It's frustrating because we're supposed to be handing over the country to them, but it's like, come on, how bad do you want it?" says US Army 1st Lt. James Kwon. "We say be ready at 0900, and they say inshallah [God willing]. We show up ready to work, and they say, 'Have some tea.' "

After insurgents fired a pair of rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) and a salvo of machine-gun fire at US Army Sgt. James Jenner's convoy during a joint US-Iraqi Army patrol on March 24, he said, "I was more scared of the Iraqi Army than I was of the RPGs."

"They hear fire and they just start shooting. Fire was blossoming from 360 degrees. They're either going to kill civilians, or they're going to kill friendly forces," says Sergeant Jenner of Louisville, Ky.

Iraqi soldiers insist they're ready. As long as the Americans remain in charge, it's unfair to judge this unit's effectiveness, says Iraqi soldier Cherko Akrawi who fights for the Army's 4th Brigade in Mosul.

"We'll be ready to take over, but the Americans are still here, still doing everything, so we're doing what they want, but we're just bluffing now," he says.

Captain Edmonds, of the special forces, says that many US soldiers knock the Iraqis because they do things differently than the Americans. He says he spends just as much time teaching the Iraqis how to do things like the US, as he does teaching US soldiers to adapt to Iraqi ways.

"Half my time is advising the Americans how to work with the Iraqis," he says. "Most important is the social aspect of every encounter. Meetings in the American military are straightforward, down to business, the clear communication of ideas in the shortest time. It's not that way in the Iraqi Army."

And at times those cultural tensions prompt ugly exchanges.

"Get off the phone, let's go," a young US Army private snapped at an Iraqi officer, his shoulders full of stars. He turns to a fellow US soldier. "He's probably calling the target to let him know we're coming."

But that friction rubs both ways. Iraqi Army and police officers complain that the US's stubbornness on rule of law and human rights is hampering their fight against the insurgency.

"Most of the detainees are captured and put in prison for a short while and then released because of a lack of evidence," complains Mosul's Sunni Arab Police Chief to a gathering of senior US Army, Iraqi Army, and Iraqi police officers. "All this is because of human rights as if we are in American society. If we captured Zarqawi tomorrow, he'd only spend two days in prison and then he'd be released."

Such gatherings of American Army, Sunni Arab-dominated police, and Kurdish-dominated Iraq Army commanders are a recent development here, and an encouraging sign of cooperation between disparate sects, say US officers. But they also highlight the tenuous balance of power underpinning Mosul's relative calm.

But all are aware of Kurdish ambitions to incorporate the eastern half of Mosul and much of this Sunni Arab-majority province into greater Kurdistan. For now, with the US military keeping a watchful eye and Kurdish leaders are keeping a lid on their territorial ambitions.

Even the smallest US transfers of authority have had discouraging results. Last month, for the first time, the US military turned over responsibility for police commandoes' salaries to the Ministry of Interior. Those officers have yet to be paid.

"My fear is that the cooperation and the progress is only happening because the US military expects it to happen," says Edmonds. "I'm afraid none of this will happen without our expectations there."

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