How the Italian police wound up having a significant presence in Iraq
Under a fierce summer sun, an Iraqi police unit marches forward, braced together under riot shields protecting them from a barrage of rocks and, moments later, kicks from a scrum of men before them. The Iraqis then shuffle through a line of smoke and flames, an illustration of their ability to manage an unruly public gathering without resorting […]Missy Ryan writes for The Washington Post:
Under a fierce summer sun, an Iraqi police unit marches forward, braced together under riot shields protecting them from a barrage of rocks and, moments later, kicks from a scrum of men before them. The Iraqis then shuffle through a line of smoke and flames, an illustration of their ability to manage an unruly public gathering without resorting to force.
The riot control exercises are part of an expanding police training program led by Italy’s Carabinieri, or gendarmerie police, which has stationed about 50 trainers in Iraq as part of the U.S.-led military coalition against the Islamic State. The goal is to ensure that Iraq’s military-style federal police and local police contribute to the Iraqi government’s battle against militants and, equally important, can keep the peace once cities are cleared of militants. Since the current program began in June 2015, Italian personnel have trained more than 3,000 Iraqi police. Almost 1,000 more are being trained this summer.
