We’ve learned quite a bit recently about U.S. forces in Iraq deciding to work with Sunni militiamen, some of whom were killing Americans up until fairly recently, in taking on al Qaeda in Iraq. Apparently, we’ve also taken to training some of them to bolster Iraqi Security Forces.
On an open dirt field just a few miles outside the U.S. base in Fallujah, about 50 Iraqi men dressed in dusty green uniforms march in formation while their Iraqi drill leader shouts instructions…. A lot of these trainees were in the police or the army under Saddam Hussein. Some were part of Sunni tribal militias that until recently were linked to insurgent groups fighting U.S. forces. Most were recruited by local Sunni sheikhs who now have agreed to help American troops fight al-Qaida. […]
For now, these men get only eight days of training and at the end of it, they get to keep their gun and their uniform. The idea is that eventually this second-string police force will go through the full training at the Anbar police academy, which opened a few weeks ago.
That’s it? Eight days? I know the U.S. military has truncated basic training for American troops, but we’re giving Sunni militiamen eight days of training and then welcoming them into the Iraq Security Force?
As Aravosis noted, it takes 7 days of training to become a Starbucks barista. The fact that the two last a similar amount of time is not at all encouraging.
