Monday, April 30, 2007

Maliki's Office Is Seen Behind Purge in Forces - washingtonpost.com

Maliki's Office Is Seen Behind Purge in Forces - washingtonpost.com: "Maliki's Office Is Seen Behind Purge in Forces
Some Commanders Had Pursued Militias

By Joshua Partlow
Washington Post Foreign Service
Monday, April 30, 2007; A01

BAGHDAD, April 29 -- A department of the Iraqi prime minister's office is playing a leading role in the arrest and removal of senior Iraqi army and national police officers, some of whom had apparently worked too aggressively to combat violent Shiite militias, according to U.S. military officials in Baghdad.

Since March 1, at least 16 army and national police commanders have been fired, detained or pressured to resign; at least nine of them are Sunnis, according to U.S. military documents shown to The Washington Post.

Although some of the officers appear to have been fired for legitimate reasons, such as poor performance or corruption, several were considered to be among the better Iraqi officers in the field. The dismissals have angered U.S. and Iraqi leaders who say the Shiite-led government is sabotaging the military to achieve sectarian goals.

'Their only crimes or offenses were they were successful' against the Mahdi Army, a powerful Shiite militia, said Brig. Gen. Dana J.H. Pittard, commanding general of the Iraq Assistance Group, which works with Iraqi security forces. 'I'm tired of seeing good I"

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