Anbar Recruiting Up
John Hinderaker
This morning's USA Today reports a spike in new trainees signing up with the Iraqi police forces in Anbar province:
The U.S. military is reporting a dramatic and unexpected increase in the number of police recruits in Anbar province, the center of Sunni insurgent activity in Iraq.
In the past two weeks, more than 1,000 applicants have sought police jobs in Ramadi, the provincial capital. Eight hundred signed up last month in Ramadi, said Army Maj. Thomas Shoffner, operations officer for the 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division.
Those figures compare with only "a few dozen" recruits in September, the U.S. military said. ...
“Dramatic, unexpected” increase in Iraqi police recruits in Anbar
Allahpundit
Every now and then a ray of light pokes through the huge, dark cloud. Only to be quickly swallowed up as the cloud gets bigger and darker.
I wonder how long it’ll take to swallow this one.
The U.S. military is reporting a dramatic and unexpected increase in the number of police recruits in Anbar province, the center of Sunni insurgent activity in Iraq…
U.S. commanders attribute the sudden increase in police applicants to the support of local tribal leaders and a deepening rift between Sunni tribesmen and extremist groups such as al-Qaeda in Iraq… [A.k.a. the Patriquin plan. — ed.]
The U.S. military said Sunday that it had secured the support of four tribes in Ramadi after a month-long security operation there. In western Anbar, police ranks grew from zero a year ago to more than 3,000 today, said Col. William Crowe, the U.S. commander there.
They’re going to try this in Fallujah next, per INDC’s Bill most recent piece for the Examiner:
Much will depend on an upcoming police recruiting drive, which will signal the willingness of the local tribes to back the government, the willingness of the police to develop a relationship with the Army, and the degree to which individual Iraqi police step up and display effective leadership. ...
