Iraqi military recruits train in order to promote unity

KIRKUK, Iraq -- In the ethnic melting pot of this northern Iraqi city, the challenges of creating a new, unified Iraqi army are clear. Half the recruits speak Kurdish, the other half Arabic. Loyalties are complicated by regional ties to Kurdistan, the autonomous region to the north.

For Iraqi military commanders and the Americans working with them, the struggle is as much about training recruits for battle as it is instilling allegiance to an undivided Iraq.

In Kirkuk -- roughly split among Kurds, Arabs, Turkomen and a small percentage of Assyrians -- accomplishing the goal of an integrated national army will mean overcoming the tensions between rival ethnic groups seeking to dominate the city.

Gen. Ayad al-Salehi, deputy commander for the Iraq army's 2nd Brigade, 4th Division, based in Kirkuk, 225 miles northwest of Baghdad, contends that the military has managed for the most part to keep ethnic tensions out of its force as it trains them to fight.

"The army will be separate from political issues. We are protecting our country. It doesn't matter if you are Turkomen, Arab or Kurd. You have to protect Iraq," he said.

in an interview on the sidelines of a major combat training exercise in a newly refurbished Iraqi training base. dubbed K1.

Al-Salehi, a Kurd and 23-year veteran of the former Iraqi army, acknowledged a few incidents involving primarily lower-level soldiers but insisted there were no problems at officer levels.

American commanders say they have found the flag of Kurdistan, instead of the national flag, being flown at traffic checkpoints manned by Iraqi army recruits. The Kurdish region's flag is similar to the Iraqi flag except for a yellow sunburst in the middle.

In other instances, posters of Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, with the Kurdistan flag behind him have been hung inside government-owned buildings. Pictures of Massoud Barzani, the new president of self-ruled Kurdistan as well as the leader of a key Kurdish political party, also had to be removed from walls when he was elected in June.

"We've told them, 'On your personal property, you can do what you want. But as for government or public property, you can't use your office to advance your political agenda."' said Maj. David Vesser, executive officer for the 1st Battalion, 148th Field Artillery Regiment, an Idaho National Guard unit that has focused on training Iraqi recruits and commanders for the past year.

Leaders in Kurdistan, the northern Iraqi region under self-rule since 1991 when it came under U.S. protection after the Gulf War, have made it clear they want Kirkuk to be the capital of the northern region. Their Arab and Turkomen counterparts say they also have historical claims on the city.

Political sensitivities are such that American commanders have pointedly advised the Iraqi military to keep an ethnic balance among its recruits to ensure that no single group dominates the force.

To that end, most Iraqi army battalions in the Kirkuk are made up of 40 percent Kurds, 40 percent Arabs, and 20 percent Turkomen. Military training often is done in at least two languages -- Arab and Kurdish -- or sometimes even three.

The recruits learn as a group -- going from basic boot camp through to platoon and company levels. A majority of them have had prior military training, either as members of the former Iraqi army or as ex-peshmerga, the Kurdish militia. Given that some recruits may have once fought on opposite sides, Vesser considers their current integration process into the new army relatively seamless.

"Half of them are peshmerga, half of them are former regime officers. I'm amazed they get along together... They don't reflect the ethnicity problem in the city," he said, referring to the political squabbles that have wracked the provincial council.

For the most part, both U.S. and Iraqi military leaders say the larger challenge is training the troops to conduct operations independent of American support. The Pentagon repeatedly has stated that a drawdown of American troops can only come when Iraqi security forces are capable of defending their own country.

That has meant a combination of direct American training at the officer level down to a 'train the trainers' approach for more basic instruction. The goal is to get the Iraqis trained to battalion level by December, U.S. commanders said. They are currently operating at platoon and company levels.

The Iraqi general, Al-Salehi, praised U.S. training efforts as he watched his men go through a recent combat exercise that required multiple battalions to coordinate their reactions to simulated attacks across the city: a roadside bomb, a convoy being ambushed, a car bomb detonating at a polling site.

Their performance was later critiqued by their American counterparts, who monitored the entire operation.

"For almost six months, they've trained us. Not just at brigade headquarters, but at every level. This is very good for us. For now, smaller operations we can do by ourselves. But at the battalion level, we have to ask for U.S. support," al-Salehi said, adding that he expects it will take another two years of solid training before Iraqis can fully take over their own security.

Still, his men are learning to rely on each other, even as they switch from Arabic to Kurdish while working side by side in a mock tactical operations control room.

"From the first day we joined, it's been peaceful coexistence," said Sgt. Jawdat Shukur, 45, a Turkomen and veteran of the former Iraqi army. "No one says, 'I'm Kurdish, or I'm Turkomen' because we have one duty, one fate and one target. We hope for a brighter future for Iraq with efforts by all, God willing."