Good News from Iraq: 8 May 2007

From the LA Times, in Ramadi, ragtag solution with real results.

RAMADI, IRAQ — Call it Neighborhood Watch, Iraqi-style. . . .

Together with the 4,500 police officers recruited in Ramadi since last May, the members of the Provincial Security Force, or PSF, have helped effect an improvement in security that has seen attacks on U.S. forces plummet and a surge in discoveries of insurgents' weapons and munitions caches. U.S. military officers now talk of a "tipping point" in the three-year battle in Ramadi that has left much of this city in ruins. . . .

Enlistments have grown, and the number of uniformed Iraqi police officers and provincial troops on Ramadi's streets has multiplied to 6,700 from only 200 in July. Security has improved correspondingly.

From an average of 30 insurgent attacks per day in December, such assaults had fallen to an average of fewer than four by last month, said the coalition's commander in Ramadi, U.S. Army Col. John Charlton. . . .

But even the most optimistic U.S. colonel was not prepared for the flood of recruits once the sheiks got the word out that joining the army, police and provincial force had their approval. Recently, 1,500 Iraqi youths showed up to enlist in the police, more than recruiters could take.

Charlton says he now puts recruits in the provincial force until they can qualify for army or police slots. Literacy classes are beginning in several units to help members qualify to advance.

"Kids come up and ask if they can join the army or police. We make them irregulars in the PSF until there is a place for them," he said.

Another change that helped recruiting was a policy introduced in February promising army recruits from Al Anbar that they would be based close to home if they enlisted. Within two days of the switch, 400 youths had signed up."These guys are getting to the attacks before they happen," Army Staff Sgt. Todd Bair said. "They know who the bad guys are, and they are helping us get weapons and snipers off the streets." . . .