Unsecured Police Uniforms Remain a Security Risk in Iraq

March 9, 2008 – It’s no secret that since Baghdad’s fall, individuals with motives other than to ‘protect and serve’ have infiltrated Iraq’s police force.  It is also well documented that insurgents, nationalists, terrorists, suicidal and homicidal bombers, the Bush described ‘evildoer’, or whatever other name might be assigned to those fighters that vehemently, for a wide range of reasons, oppose U.S. presence in Iraq have repeatedly skirted security and inflicted serious injury and death upon ‘enemies’ foreign and domestic in Iraq by disguising themselves as members of the Iraqi military or police. 

News accounts of disguised militants posing as Iraqi police or military are well documented.  This tactic has proven to be an effective method for militants to hit their target.  Iraqi police are a frequent target.  In December 2006, BBC News published an article Iraqi police deaths ‘hit 12,000’.  How many of these deaths were the result of imposters is a figure that has yet to be agreed upon, similar to the number of Iraqi civilians killed since the U.S. occupation began 5 years ago this month.  The U.S. government maintains that approximately 30 thousand Iraqis have been killed since military operations began.  Some independent analysis puts the number over 1 million. 

Be assured that every element of the federal government that should be aware of the security risk presented by easy access to Iraqi military and police uniforms, is aware of it.  The White House, Pentagon, State Department, FBI, CIA, and Congress are each aware and understand the threat.  And each has been aware of the imposter tactic since at least 2004. 

The U.S. military commanders in Iraq live with the threat everyday and are well aware of it also.  There is simply no hiding behind ‘nobody could have imagined that militants would dress up as Iraqi police and blow up people’ similar to Condoleezza Rice’s laughable statement that “nobody could have imagined a plane being used as a weapon and being driven into one of our buildings.”  The point that needs to be hammered home is that the tactic of militants wearing Iraqi police or military uniforms is of no surprise nor could it be 5 years into the battle.  It’s common knowledge and has been for years.

The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, which is very close to the Bush Administration and is suspected to have played its role in the ‘preemptive strike with probable cause’ policy towards Iraq published The Confused Security Situation in Iraq: Some Less Publicized Units on August 21, 2006.  In it, Research Assistant Cecile Zwiebach wrote:

As army and police units increase and begin to diversify, and as the black market for weapons and uniforms flourishes, it becomes harder to regulate legitimate units within the security forces and to recognize militia members posing as Iraqi soldiers and policemen.

With such an exposed and predictable tactic and years to devise and implement a directive to counteract it, the expectation is that the U.S. government, working with the Iraqis, would have greatly reduced the ability of militants to easily obtain uniforms in which they can later walk among coalition forces and Iraqi security personal only to eventually blow themselves up when the moment is ripe to inflict as much injury and death as possible. 

Pictures and information obtained by the Muckraker Report on March 1, 2008 from a source in Iraq reveal that little has been done to secure Iraqi police uniforms.  The pictures were taken on February 27, 2008, approximately 2 weeks ago, at the warehouse on Techwood Drive, Forward Operating Base Taji. 

Forward Operating Base Taji, also known as Al Taji Army Airfield is located approximately 16 miles northwest of downtown Baghdad.  U.S. forces share the base with Iraqi forces.  The unsecured warehouse (Figure 1-1, 1-2) is on the U.S. side of the base. 

Beyond the unsecured Iraqi police uniforms found in the warehouse, there is also an unaccounted for police blue light ready for mounting on a car; a potential dream come true for a would be suicide bomber that wants to drive through a crowded area while impersonating a police officer, only to detonate an explosive laden vehicle killing hundreds.  Also found in the warehouse are ammunition magazine pouches, metal beds, office supplies, batteries, winter jackets, office furniture, gloves, combat helmets, duty belts, handcuff cases, police work shoes, police vehicle parts such as tires, doors, windows, and windshields, first aid kits, along with other miscellaneous items. 

A whiteboard found in the warehouse had markings on it that suggest the warehouse was last controlled by the U.S. Army’s 413^th Military Police Company.  It is suspected the 413^th MP Co. left Taji in 2006 and that the remaining content of the warehouse has been unaccounted for since the unit’s departure.

It is estimated that over $200 thousand dollars worth of equipment / supplies (Figure 1-3), paid for by U.S. taxpayers, has been left unsecured and unaccounted for at this site.  There is likely no inventory or record of the supplies left behind. Beyond the waste, the most troubling aspect is the fact that all the ingredients required to assemble a Iraqi Police Uniform – official pants, shirts, shoes, jackets, handcuff case, duty belt, etc. – are available for any person working on the base to steal and sell on the black market outside the gates.  By all appearances, it is suspected that the boxes have already been rummaged through and uniforms most likely have already ‘walked’ off or been driven off the base.  How many people have been killed or may be killed as a result is anybody’s guess.

The Muckraker Report has learned that many third country nationals (TCN’s) working on the Forward Operating Base Taji are from Pakistan, India, and the Philippines.  Most are contracted to provide general labor type services.  They live on base in substandard compounds.  The TCN's are unable to leave the base unless their work requires them to leave - such as truck drivers.  Other workers, local nationals (LN's) also provide general labor or are merchants on the base running small retail shops that sell pirated DVD’s and household items on the U.S. side of the base.  While most Iraqis, civilian or military, need U.S. escorts to be on the American side of the base where the warehouse is located, the TCN’s and Iraqi interpreters do not.  They are free to move about the base unfettered.

For all practical purposes, if a TCN wanted to walk into the warehouse and stuff a complete Iraqi Police Uniform (Figure 1-4) into a bag, nothing is presently standing in his or her way.  Nor is there much standing in the way of a TCN passing the uniform off to a LN on base for transport off the base.

But could a TCN or an LN actually get a police uniform past the entry check points (ECP) and off the base for sale on the black market? 

To enter the base LN’s usually get dropped off by their rides, such as a taxi, outside the gate and then walk up to the ECP where they must present I.D. and are subjected to a pat down search.  As merchants and laborers, they often carry bags and satchels that are usually searched upon entering the base. 

However, according to the Muckraker Report source, nobody is being searched when leaving Forward Operating Base Taji!

When asked what would be the simplest method to steal the police uniforms (Figure 1-5) found in the warehouse on the U.S. side of Forward Operating Base Taji, our source replied:

“Just putting them in a bag and carrying them off would be an easy way to equip a small squad.  Iraqis (LN's) and TCN’s aren't searched once they're on base or when they leave the FOB.  On a bigger scale, one of the merchants could load a truck from the warehouse after dark, mix the equipment with his merchandise, and drive it out.  Insurgents have, in the past, kidnapped relatives of Iraqis working with coalition forces and held them to make the local workers smuggle equipment or ordinance.”

Last week the Muckraker Report asked the Department of Defense for comment.  DoD media affairs took our questions but was unable to provide immediate response. 

However, this morning, March 9, 2008, our source in Iraq informed the Muckraker Report that the warehouse is now locked with two supply trucks parked outside.  Whether the DoD sounded the alarm as a result of the Muckraker Report inquiry or the government simply has read the e-mail exchange between two Americans discussing security issues at Forward Operating Base Taji remains unknown.  It is certain that the NSA domestic spy program has its computer programs set up to flag key phrases such as Forward Operating Base Taji and Iraqi Police Uniform.

While it is a good thing that the DoD is now securing the warehouse, there is no way to measure how much damage may have already been done or will be done as the result of stolen Iraqi Police Uniforms from the Techwood Drive warehouse.