Iraqi police officers train in southern Iraq. Photo courtesy of British Ministry of Defense.

The Interior Ministry also controls the Department of Border Enforcement. Its members are 92 percent trained but only 56 percent equipped, Peterson said. The shortfall in equipment, he explained, is a result of resources going to Iraqi forces engaged in offensive operations in Baghdad and other more hotly contested parts of the country.

“You can see that they’re doing very well right now,” he said.

The general said 80 percent of instructors at 12 training academies in the country are Iraqis, and said those instructors will run and administer all academies by year’s end.

Of 185 international police trainers, most are contractors from the U.S. and about 170 military police training teams are helping build the forces’ capabilities, he said.

Peterson unveiled a new digitized design uniform similar to the U.S. Army’s Advanced Combat Uniform, but with small Iraqi flags embedded into the pattern. The uniforms are to be issued beginning in October to all Iraqi National Police officers.

Insurgent death squads have frequently disguised themselves as Iraqi police to more easily conduct attacks, gaining access to mosques and homes under the premise of official police business.

Officials are working to standardize the uniform and make it distinctive so it can’t easily be copied, he said. The uniforms will be tightly controlled with the goal of national policemen having three sets by year’s end, Peterson said

The Iraqi National Police are undergoing a three-phase training and screening process, focusing on assessments, inspections, training and professional development.

Peterson said the training will help the Iraqi police weed out unqualified candidates, including those who might be influenced by militias.

“As a result of these assessments, we anticipate that it will end up in the officers either being retained or dismissed, based on the recommendations of the Minister of Interior,” Peterson said.

At the unit level, Iraqi inspectors will evaluate individual standards for appearance, equipment, property accountability and vehicle control.  

The training phase will coach all nine national police brigades for a three-week period, with an emphasis on civil police training.

The final phase will be a system of professional development.

“We’ll have established a national police training center of excellence … bringing policemen and battalions to a training site and then evaluating them not only on their combat skills, but also on their policing skills,” Peterson said.

Caldwell said Iraqi security forces are the key to the success in the country and their success will allow for Coalition forces to eventually draw down their presence here.

Caldwell said, however, that military and police components are not enough.
"It's going to take the commitment of the Iraqi government through governance, through economics and most importantly, the will and determination of the Iraqi people themselves," he said.

He acknowledged that Baghdad needs long-term solutions, and that the extremists here will be defeated neither easily nor quickly.

"Challenges will ensue, but efforts will march forward block by block," he said.

He said what really matters is businesses reopening and staying open, refurbishing the stalls in the marketplace section by section, improving drainage, removing rubbish and allowing children on summer break outside to ride bicycles and play.

(Compiled from State Department and Defense Department)