Troops arrest eight Iraqi police officers

[unhappycamper]

Troops arrest eight Iraqi police officers
By Michael Gisick, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Saturday, May 17, 2008

BAGHDAD — U.S. troops detained eight Iraqi police officers in a Shiite section of eastern Baghdad Wednesday, saying the officers had taken an active role in attacks on U.S. and Iraqi forces.

Wearing handcuffs, face masks and their distinctive, bright blue uniform tops, the policemen were led one by one from a station in the New Baghdad area and taken away in waiting American Humvees.

All eight were low-ranking officers, said Capt. Josh Campbell, commander of the 54th Military Police company, based at Fort Lewis, Wash. About 200 policemen work out of the New Baghdad station, a few miles from Sadr City in an area that has seen frequent clashes since late March.

The station itself has been attacked several times, according to U.S. troops who share the station with the Iraqi police.

Coming as the U.S. military continues to push Iraqi forces to take a leading role in combat operations, Wednesday’s arrests highlight continued concerns about the loyalty of some of those forces. A series of high-profile defections followed the Iraqi army’s March 25 assault on the southern port city of Basra and in the early days of subsequent fighting in Sadr City.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=54857

[trumad]

1. But but McBush says the war will be won by the end of his first term?