"Prashant Rao" - Iraq 'Less Safe Than a Year Ago': US Watchdog

Published on Saturday, July 30, 2011 by Agence France-Presse

http://sg.news.yahoo.com/iraq-less-safe-ago-us-watchdog-090050434.html

by Prashant Rao

Iraq is a less safe place than it was one year ago as security deteriorates, an American watchdog warned on Saturday, just months ahead of a US withdrawal from the country.

The assessment by Stuart Bowen, the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, contrasts markedly from the more optimistic view often voiced by senior US army officers who argue Iraqi forces are able to maintain internal security.

Bowen noted that efforts by the US embassy to train Iraq's fledgling police force would be "challenging."

While the military has been in charge of developing Iraq's policemen, that responsibility is being transferred to the US State Department.

"Iraq remains an extraordinarily dangerous place to work," Bowen said in the report published on Saturday. "It is less safe, in my judgment, than 12 months ago."

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