McClatchy Washington Bureau | 07/23/2008 | Iraqi forces aren't quite ready to take charge
Although the U.S. military played a big role in some of the battles, the Iraqi army is unabashedly cocky.
"The power nowadays is with the security forces," said Azadi, the commander of the 38th Brigade, 10th Iraqi Army Division. "As long as we are here, they will not come back."
Yet a McClatchy reporter embedded with this Iraqi unit for four days as it searched for weapons throughout the province — one of the first Americans ever allowed to embed on a post-Basra Iraqi operation — had a glimpse of another reality. Iraqi troops are confident as never before. But just below the surface, they question whether their victories of the last few months are real or the result of a Mahdi Army decision to walk away to fight another day. Publicly, they're boastful; privately they wonder whether they're really in charge.
As they dashed about the province over those four days, Azadi's troops fired no shots and uncovered few weapons, despite digging up patios with picks and shovels in vain response to a tip. They even used a bulldozer to move mounds of earth that a tipster swore were hiding weapons.
The troops said they kept going because they thought that the militias wouldn't return as long as they were conducting raids. And if they did their jobs well, the American forces eventually would leave, too.
Although the U.S. military played a big role in some of the battles, the Iraqi army is unabashedly cocky.
"The power nowadays is with the security forces," said Azadi, the commander of the 38th Brigade, 10th Iraqi Army Division. "As long as we are here, they will not come back."
Yet a McClatchy reporter embedded with this Iraqi unit for four days as it searched for weapons throughout the province — one of the first Americans ever allowed to embed on a post-Basra Iraqi operation — had a glimpse of another reality. Iraqi troops are confident as never before. But just below the surface, they question whether their victories of the last few months are real or the result of a Mahdi Army decision to walk away to fight another day. Publicly, they're boastful; privately they wonder whether they're really in charge.
As they dashed about the province over those four days, Azadi's troops fired no shots and uncovered few weapons, despite digging up patios with picks and shovels in vain response to a tip. They even used a bulldozer to move mounds of earth that a tipster swore were hiding weapons.
The troops said they kept going because they thought that the militias wouldn't return as long as they were conducting raids. And if they did their jobs well, the American forces eventually would leave, too.
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