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Iraq's army seeks a few good Sunnis
Poor turnout at a Sunni neighborhood recruiting drive underscores the challenges facing US military trainers seeking to build a balanced Iraqi force.
from the April 4, 2007 edition
Page 2 of 3
Col. Carl Johnson and two other US military officers from the team that is training and equipping Iraq's armed forces are on hand to observe. Their Iraqi counterpart, Brig. Gen. Raad Kadhem, is also present.
The Adhamiyah municipal council had promised 1,400 eager recruits. US and Iraqi officials say they are ready to sign up 200 recruits on the spot, the only requirements being that they be between the ages of 18 and 29, weigh less than 330 pounds, be literate, have 22 teeth, and not have any vision or hearing impairments.
The local council members had complained to Colonel Johnson that it was too dangerous for them as Sunnis to venture out to the main recruiting center at the Al-Muthana airport. So he decided to come to them.
"The intent is to show them that they will be treated fairly," Johnson says.
Adhamiyah is a traditional stronghold for Saddam Hussein and his Baath Party. Soldiers from the US Army's 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, who were sent in August to pacify the area, continue to face fierce resistance and hostility. The unit has already lost 17 soldiers.
The center of Adhamiyah resembles a battleground with "Long live the martyr Saddam" graffiti everywhere.
Even the local council's head, Mudhafar Abdul Razaq, who had pushed the most for Sunnis to be enlisted in the Army and police, was murdered last month. He was the second council official to be killed in three months.
"It was disheartening. It's a setback," says Capt. Nathaniel Waggoner of the1-26. He still hopes, though, that some Sunnis will show up.
As the morning chill gives way, the line of recruits grows. Ten men in their 20s, all from Sadr City, stand in line to be fingerprinted and have their biometrics taken by US soldiers.
Hussein Qassim says that he heard that conscription in Adhamiyah was free so he came over. He and three friends had paid $1,200 in bribes last month at the Muthana center for slots in the Army but got nothing. Several prospective and current Iraqi soldiers confirm that the standard bribe for conscription is indeed $300. Only those hired when the US military is present seem to be exempt.
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