rican general,
"2006 was supposed to be 'the year of the police' but it hasn't
materialized that way."

Facilities Protection Services

The Facilities Protection Service poses additional problems. Each
Iraqi ministry has an armed unit, ostensibly to guard the ministry's
infrastructure. All together, these units total roughly 145,000
uniformed Iraqis under arms. However, these units have questionable
loyalties and capabilities. In the ministries of Health, Agriculture,
and Transportation--controlled by Moqtada al-Sadr--the Facilities
Protection Service is a source of funding and jobs for the Mahdi Army.
One senior U.S. official described the Facilities Protection Service
as "incompetent, dysfunctional, or subversive." Several Iraqis simply
referred to them as militias.

The Iraqi government has begun to bring the Facilities Protection
Service under the control of the Interior Ministry. The intention is
to identify and register Facilities Protection personnel, standardize
their treatment, and provide some training. Though the approach is
reasonable, this effort may exceed the current capability of the
Interior Ministry.

Operation Together Forward II

In a major effort to quell the violence in Iraq, U.S. military forces
joined with Iraqi forces to establish security in Baghdad with an
operation called "Operation Together Forward II," which began in
August 2006. Under Operation Together Forward II, U.S. forces are
working with members of the Iraqi Army and police to "clear, hold, and
build" in Baghdad, moving neighborhood by neighborhood. There are
roughly 15,000 U.S. troops in Baghdad.

This operation--and the security of Baghdad--is crucial to security in
Iraq more generally. A capital city of more than 6 million, Baghdad
contains some 25 percent of the country's population. It is the
largest Sunni and Shia city in Iraq. It has high concentrations of
both Sunni insurgents and Shiite militias. Both Iraqi and American
leaders told us that as Baghdad goes, so goes Iraq.

The results of Operation Together Forward II are disheartening.
Violence in Baghdad--already at high levels--jumped more than 43
percent between the summer and October 2006. U.S. forces continue to
suffer high casualties. Perpetrators of violence leave neighborhoods
in advance of security sweeps, only to filter back later. Iraqi police
have been unable or unwilling to stop such infiltration and continuing
violence. The Iraqi Army has pro