A fragile trust: Soldiers question Iraqi police’s involvement in bombing

STARS AND STRIPES - 08/07/09 - Photo: Seth Robson / S&S -- Staff Sgt. Juan Medina-Torres, 32, of Puerto Rico, and others from Task Force 1st Battalion, 2nd Infantry Regiment, shown on June 26, are training Iraqi security forces in the Najaf area, but the trust between the two groups is still growing slowly. NAJAF, Iraq — The security agreement requiring U.S. units to pull out of Iraqi cities relies in large part on trust that the Iraqi security forces can protect U.S. soldiers and civilians when they do go into town, military officials say. But American troops, who have closed their last outpost in this city of almost a million Shiites, could be excused if they do not entirely trust local police. U.S. soldiers report seeing police taking cover seconds before a roadside bomb detonated on the main road into town in May, striking a U.S. vehicle carrying Cpl. David A. Schaefer, 27 of Belleville, Ill. The father of three, known as "Schaf" by his friends, died May 16 in Baghdad of wounds suffered in the attack, according to a Department of Defense press statement. The man in charge of U.S. troops in Najaf, and neighboring Qadisiyah province, said this week that the Najaf police were clearly implicated in the bombing. "[Iraqi police] were 100 meters away from the site of the attack," said Lt. Col. Steve Miska, commander of Task Force 1st Battalion, 2nd Infantry Regiment. "Some of them were hiding behind buildings waiting for the bomb to go off." Weeks have passed but Iraqi authorities claim little progress in their investigation. [Open link for full story.]