When I worked on Iraq, and especially when I was in Baghdad, the stories and reports about Iraqi army and police forces were often dispiriting. Infiltration by militias, corruption, and lack of training and ability were the hallmark of most of these forces, and it was hard to believe they'd ever be able to take responsibility for their country.
The one consistent exception to this drumbeat of bad news was Hilla SWAT, a unit of about 800 Interior Ministry forces (which technically made them police, rather than army) based in the southern city of Hilla and operating everywhere from the Sunni suburbs of Baghdad to the Shia-dominated southern areas. Hilla SWAT, also known as the Scorpion Brigade, consistently transcended sectarian lines in their pursuit of outlaws, and their young and charismatic leader, Col. Salam al-Mamuri, actually backed up his declarations of independence and fairness with his actions. Iraq needs more leaders like Col. Mamuri, and although Hilla SWAT was occasionally overzealous, few people would accuse them of sectarian bias.
Col. Mamuri was assassinated Friday, killed by a bomb in his office likely placed by a fellow Shia who felt he was being too evenhanded.
Because of its makeup and the fact that it fought al-Qaeda in Iraq and other Sunni-led insurgent groups, Hilla SWAT swiftly earned a reputation as a feared anti-Sunni force. It was heavily involved in the operations around Yusufiyah in April and May that led to the capture of several top al-Qaeda lieutenants and, the military later said, the eventual killing of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.Iraq needs more leaders like this . . . but today, it has one fewer.
But the unit cracked down as fiercely on Shiite militias, which Mamuri blamed this spring for what by then amounted to at least a half-dozen attempts to assassinate him. He barred militia members from serving in his brigade, despite intense political pressure from the provincial governor, who Mamuri said repeatedly pressured him to accept more militia members into his ranks.
"The militias consider us the only thing preventing them from completely taking over the south," Mamuri said in the spring interview. "They are bad for the country." Mamuri rejected the idea of giving up in the face of the assassination attempts. "You can get killed in Iraq even if you sit all day in your house," he said. "What should I do, sit around and wait to die, or try to stop the people who are killing?"
