Iraq less safe than a year ago
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An Iraqi soldier inspects the scene of a suicide attack in Radwaniya. Photo: AP
Iraq is a less safe place than it was one year ago and
security is continuing to deteriorate, an American watchdog warned on
Saturday, just months ahead of a US withdrawal from the country.
The assessment by the Special Inspector General for Iraq
Reconstruction (SIGIR) contrasts markedly from the view often voiced by
senior US army officers who argue that levels of violence are
significantly lower than in 2006 and 2007, when Iraq was in the throes
of a sectarian bloodbath.
He also noted that efforts by Washington to hand over
responsibility for training Baghdad's fledgling police force to the
American embassy from the military would prove "challenging".
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"Iraq remains an extraordinarily dangerous place to
work," Stuart Bowen said in the report published on Saturday. "It is
less safe, in my judgment, than 12 months ago."
He added that the transition of responsibility for
reconstruction from the US military to the embassy was occurring
"against the backdrop of a security situation in Iraq that continues to
deteriorate".
Bowen noted in his report that June was the deadliest
month for US military personnel since April 2009, and that the April to
July period saw the highest number of assassinations of senior Iraqi
officials since SIGIR began tracking such figures.
He warned that while joint efforts by the US and Iraq had
lowered the threat posed by insurgent groups, "foreign militias have
become cause for concern", and added that the past quarter "also saw an
increase in the number of rockets hitting the International Zone and the
US embassy compound as well".
Bowen's report comes with just months to go before a
year-end deadline for the approximately 47,000 American troops currently
stationed in Iraq to withdraw from the country, under the terms of a
bilateral security pact.
But proposals for a US military training mission of
limited size are gaining traction amongst Iraqi politicians, Foreign
Minister Hoshyar Zebari has said, although nothing has yet been agreed.
As a result, Bowen said Iraq was in the midst of a "summer of uncertainty".
Among his other concerns was the transition of
responsibility for training Iraq's police forces to the US State
Department from the military.
He noted that the US embassy's execution of the police
training mission would "be challenging, involving fewer than 200
advisers based at three sites and supporting Iraqi police in 10
provinces".
The US military and the American embassy did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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