Good idea.
U.S. Sending 26 Police Officials to Iraq
April 11
? WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is sending 26 police and judicial officials to Iraq as the advance team for what could eventually be a contingent of more than 1,150 people to help Iraqis restore law and order, the State Department said on Friday.
The first batch of 26 people will be part of the group led by retired Lt. Gen. Jay Garner, the man appointed to run the civil administration in Iraq under U.S. occupation.
Garner has not yet moved his operations into Iraq from neighboring Kuwait, despite the anarchy reigning in most cities, but he has made some trips into the south.
State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said the second contingent would be 150 people under contract with Dyncorp, a private Virginia company that supplies security personnel for U.S. operations abroad.
"That's a process under way. The money is from existing funding and I think congressional notifications are up right now," Boucher told a daily briefing.
A supplemental appropriations bill to finance the invasion includes money for an extra 1,000 police and judicial officials, the spokesman added. The bill is still in Congress.
"These people who we're sending out will conduct assessments, provide advice, help people get organized. They're not cops on the beat, they're not ... going to do the policing of Iraqi cities," he added.
U.S. Sending 26 Police Officials to Iraq
April 11
? WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is sending 26 police and judicial officials to Iraq as the advance team for what could eventually be a contingent of more than 1,150 people to help Iraqis restore law and order, the State Department said on Friday.
The first batch of 26 people will be part of the group led by retired Lt. Gen. Jay Garner, the man appointed to run the civil administration in Iraq under U.S. occupation.
Garner has not yet moved his operations into Iraq from neighboring Kuwait, despite the anarchy reigning in most cities, but he has made some trips into the south.
State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said the second contingent would be 150 people under contract with Dyncorp, a private Virginia company that supplies security personnel for U.S. operations abroad.
"That's a process under way. The money is from existing funding and I think congressional notifications are up right now," Boucher told a daily briefing.
A supplemental appropriations bill to finance the invasion includes money for an extra 1,000 police and judicial officials, the spokesman added. The bill is still in Congress.
"These people who we're sending out will conduct assessments, provide advice, help people get organized. They're not cops on the beat, they're not ... going to do the policing of Iraqi cities," he added.
