New Iraqi National Guard struggles to distance itself from U.S. mentors

By BORZOU DARAGAHI
Newhouse News Service

NABEEL AL JURANI / AP Iraqi National Guard soldiers scrutinize a busload of refugees arriving in Basra on Thursday. Some of the 450 returning refugees had fled in 2003, while others left during the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war.

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On this recent day, for the first time since the announcement of sovereignty, the squad of young soldiers of the new Iraqi National Guard ventured onto the streets without a U.S. Army escort. The mission: escort a busload of young recruits from the Muthana Airport base to Camp Sara, another base on the other side of town.

A giant Iraqi flag waves from their vehicle. A young gunner sits holding a machine gun. Pedestrians gawk. Onlookers wave, laugh or appear bewildered at the sight.

"Finally my soldiers are patrolling on their own, without Americans," says Lt. Col. Heydar Abdul Rasool, commander of an Iraqi National Guard unit. "The flag of Iraq on the pickup was for them a sign of independence."

But American officials concede it will be months, if not years, before the Iraqi National Guard — eventually to number 30,000 soldiers — is up to the task of providing security.

"I don't foresee us going away any time soon," said 1st Sgt. William Taggart, 40, a Brooklyn, Mich., native and military trainer assigned to the U.S. Army's 1st Cavalry Division. "They still need to be mentored. They are responsible, but we stay next to them to help them."

Rasool, however, says he's eager for the Americans to leave. "We thank the Americans for training us," he says. "We've been under their orders for many months. But we get orders from the new Iraqi government. We have to be independent."

With the American soldiers now mostly safely ensconced on well-fortified bases, it's been the Iraqi National Guard and Iraqi police forces that have borne the insurgency's brunt. Rasool said he lost 40 of his 1,500 men in his first year.

"All our operations are dangerous, especially the raids," he says. In volatile areas, the Iraqi National Guard members used to wear masks to prevent retribution by insurgents. Most no longer do. But on this day's patrol, a few decide to hide their faces.

On her first mission without a U.S. escort, First Soldier Susan Jassem, a 22-year-old recruit with golden hair and golden earrings, covered her face as the pickup rumbled off the base. "I'm no longer afraid of going on missions," she had boasted earlier.

As a mark of their independence from the Americans, Rasool's men recently held a ceremony to pledge allegiance to the new interim government. They took off their American-style rank insignias and donned the old Iraqi Army stripes, based on the British army system. They saluted Iraqi-style, their palms directed upward instead of downward like the Americans.
 
But the poorly disciplined troops were unable to perform even a simple ceremony without American guidance. Some of the soldiers couldn't get their AK-47s to lock and load. Others were grossly out of sync with their comrades as they marched. A couple giggled at a group of visiting journalists. The soldiers were ordered to stand at attention but kept fidgeting.

A group of still younger recruits could be seen storming past in a mock attack, laughing gleefully as they held up their weapons. "They're civilians off the street, just like our guys are when they get their basic training," Taggart said.

Finally the soldiers pledged allegiance to the new Iraqi government, bringing them officially under the orders of the new Iraqi defense minister.

After vowing not to wear the black lieutenant-colonel star the Americans gave him, Rasool decided at the last moment to put it on his lapel.

"It's a small act of appreciation to the American forces for liberating us and training us," he said, "just before we say goodbye to them."