U.S. troops reading to hand over control of cities

BAGHDAD — As Iraqi security services prepare to take back their towns from the Americans on Tuesday, the sharpest arrow in their quiver is an elite, American-trained force with a reputation that leads many Iraqis to call it "the Dirty Brigade.”

The unit’s official name is the Counter Terrorism Bureau, and its commanding officer insists it’s professional, nonsectarian and not dirty at all.

Violence is already rising and will likely continue after the handover as different Iraqi factions test the government’s ability to manage without the Americans’ backup.

But Kalib Shegati al-Kenani, the Iraqi army general who heads the bureau, is confident his force can cope and that his country will not slide into renewed sectarian warfare.

The elite units, armed with high-tech U.S.-made equipment, often pair up with American special forces to go after Iraq’s most wanted foes.

They are thought to have been the main force that assisted the Americans during an offensive in Baghdad’s Sadr City quarter last year to rout Shiite militias.

Formed soon after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, the force became known as the "Dirty Brigade” because it was secretive and until recently operated outside the Iraqi chain of command, reporting directly to U.S. officers.

Originally numbering about 4,500 members, it is reported to have doubled in size and now reports directly to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

"We are professional and not sectarian forces, and we bring together people from all sections of the population. Each member of the bureau signs a document vowing not to speak about sectarianism, partisan affairs and nationalities. Their commitment is only to Iraq,” al-Kenani said.

Al-Kenani, a 59-year-old veteran of the eight-year Iran-Iraq War and the first Gulf War, is a Shiite, his deputy is a Sunni and one of his top generals is a Kurd.

The force has sought to reinforce its nonpartisan makeup by refusing to accept recruits who previously served in sectarian militias.

Its ranks are made up of Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds, al-Saedi said, but it does not publish breakdowns.

A statement in Arabic posted on the American military’s Web site acknowledged the public’s "misconceptions about this very viable and important unit.”

It picks its targets on the basis of rigorous checks, the statement said. The Americans are already leaving the towns and cities, and once they are gone full responsibility will fall to the Iraqi police and military, which numbered 654,362 members at last count.



by the associated press