Iraqi Police

Police all over the world is found to provide people with peace, security and safety except in Iraq, this perspective is different and in the contrary police became a source of fear and intimidation to the Iraqis.

None of the Iraqis including I ever think to ask the help of the police if they have a problem because if you do that you will be trap in other problems.

I was in a problem lately and did not have any other choice except to try the police, I contacted the chief police and told him my problem, the man answered me “ I will help you but you have to keep the matter secret among the three of us, I will refer you to a General who is in charge of your neighborhood, he will contact you soon.”

After 15 minute the General contacted me and said “ I will help you but we have to find a way to talk alone because I do not trust the police with me, so either I come to visit you home wearing a civil uniform or you come and pretend that you have lost your ID, or you wait somewhere and I come to talk with you.”

With such fear the family preferred that I leave my problem to God, he will solve it because they do not want to open another door of problems for them.

Every body walks or drives in Baghdad streets try to avoid police motorcades as much as he can, first, because of the extent of fear and panic they spread among people when they cross the street through their shouting with their loud speakers, their crazy speed which is always wrong side and fires they shoot while they are driving and then their guns which are are directed against the people all the time.

The other issue that makes you avoid coming close to them is that their being very sensitive target which means if you walk or drive beside them you will be either killed or injured or suspected by them.

At one of the check points set up in Zayouna district, a guy descended from his car to be checked by the police there but they were interrupted by a suicide bomber who killed both of them.

Actually Iraqi police lost all its reputation after the scandals of death squads who are touring Baghdad and other Iraqi provinces with Police commandos uniform, kidnapping and killing people during the time of the curfew set up by the ministry of Interior itself and when journalists ask the minister of Interior, he answers that he did not have any idea about that and that his commandos absoultly did not do such things while massacres are going on till now.

Moreover, after kidnapping, police begin to bargain with the families that they should pay ransoms and should be in dollars, no less than $10,000 in the best cases.

I was in a taxi when a convoy for the police passed by, some of them wore black scarves like Americans and others most of their bodies are out of the cars with their guns directed to the people, the driver looked at me and said “ I swear to you all of them are looters, look how they imitate the Americans even in their scarves and they want us to trust them.”

Police is supposed to be neutral not represent any sect of the society while in Iraq police touring the cities with Hussein flags and pictures of Al-Sader and Al-Hakiem, a matter which make them lose any credibility of their non-alignement to the common peopl who are from other sects.

Four Syrian truck drivers were transferring cement from Syria to Iraq, when they reached Baghdad outskirts they stopped by the Iraqi police who asked them to show their passports.

The drivers told the police that they were hijacked on Ramadi road and their passports were taken by the hijackers.

The police told them that they must record their losing of their passports in the police who would do the routine procedure adopted in such cases, and then they could go wherever they want.

After half an hour, US inspectors came running to the police department inquiring about the four Syrian guys, the Iraqi police told them they had done the required procedures and released the four guys.

The US inspectors got mad about the release of those four Syrian guys because they were top senior Al-Qa’dia members and they had been looking for them for long time, but they just disappeared in The Land Of Two Rivers.