Iraq: March 28, 2004

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Iraqi police, army and security forces now contain some 200,000 troops. In the past year, 350 police have been killed by foreign terrorists and anti-government Iraqi gangs. Some of the deaths may have been at hands of criminal gangs. Some of the anti-government forces operate like criminal gangs, and some appear to be criminal gangs part of the time (to raise money for "the cause.") The anti-government forces are using bribes, threats and fatal attacks to try and weaken the effectiveness of the police and security forces. These tactics have had some success, and the American officials who keep an eye on the police have had to remove or discipline dozens of Iraqi commanders, and arrest even more police or security men for working for the enemy. Most of those arrested were doing it for money, but some were pro-Saddam and were doing it in an effort to bring the Baath Party, or even Saddam Hussein, back to power.