1,300 Iraqi troops, police dismissed (and will be tried by military court)

Yahoo ^ | 4/13/2008 | BUSHRA JUHI, Associated Press Writer

[tobyhill]

BAGHDAD - The Iraqi government has dismissed about 1,300 soldiers and policemen who deserted or refused to fight during last month's offensive against Shiite militias and criminal gangs in Basra, officials said Sunday.

Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Abdul-Karim Khalaf said 921 police and soldiers were fired in Basra. They included 37 senior police officers ranging in rank from lieutenant colonel to brigadier general.

The others were dismissed in Kut, one of the Shiite cities where the fight had spread.

Last month, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki ordered the security forces to confront armed groups in Basra, Iraq's second largest city.

But they met fierce resistance and the attack quickly ground to a halt as fighting flared across the Shiite south and Baghdad.

Since then, government officials have revealed that about 1,000 members of the security forces — including an entire infantry battalion — had mutinied, on some cases handing over vehicles and weapons to the militias.

The majority of Iraqi soldiers and police are Shiites.

Speaking in Basra, Khalaf said those dismissed included 421 police officers and 500 soldiers who had not returned to duty in the southern port city and would be tried by military courts.

"Some of them were sympathetic with these lawbreakers, some refused to (go into) battle for

[onguard]

I’ve got to admit, Polybius, nobody goes to all the trouble that you do in crafting a reply. Well, I’m pretty new to this board, so there may be others, but I doubt it. Your replies are original and creative, even if I don’t agree with them sometimes.

[Polybius]

I’ve got to admit, Polybius, nobody goes to all the trouble that you do in crafting a reply. Well, I’m pretty new to this board, so there may be others, but I doubt it. Your replies are original and creative, even if I don’t agree with them sometimes.

Thanks.

I hope you didn't think I was too aggressive with you. I sometimes think of debate as a contact sport. :-)

[Lurker]

Funny, I thought that in a democracy you told the people the truth, and let them make a judgment with their votes.

How quaint.

L

[onguard]

“I hope you didn’t think I was too aggressive with you. I sometimes think of debate as a contact sport.”

No problem. I appreciate someone who will get down and slug it out with me, instead of just jeering from the sidelines. And anyway, I’ve been married for quite a few years now, so I’m battle hardened. :-)

[batco-barry]

Good post.....