The Report
of the Iraq Inquiry
Public
Order
Battalions
MOI
September
2004
A lighter
force which conducted
counter‑insurgency
operations but primarily
performed a
traditional police function in very
hostile
environments.
The Public
Order Battalions were recruited
almost
entirely from Shia neighbourhoods around
Baghdad and
locations in southern Iraq and
were not
under Multi‑National Security Transition
Command –
Iraq (MNSTC‑I)
supervision. They
were later
regarded by Sunnis as evidence of
Shia abuse
of their power as head of the MOI.370
430.
The creation
of “elite” forces within the MOI led to two types of police –
national
(although
not formally badged as the “National Police” until April 2006; see
Box, ‘The
National
Police’, later in this Section) and local. The national‑type police
forces (elite
forces)
reported directly to the Minister of Interior, while the local
forces reported through
a
Provincial Director of Police to a Deputy Minister in the MOI
responsible for policing.
431.
Coalition
military structures were also re‑organised in preparation for the
transfer
of
sovereignty. Part of that re‑organisation subsumed the Office of
Security Co‑operation
(OSC) into
the Multi‑National Security Transition Command – Iraq
(MNSTC‑I).371
The
Multi‑National Security Transition Command – Iraq (MNSTC‑I) came
into existence
on 6
June 2004 and was led by Lt Gen Petraeus.372
MNSTC‑I was
organised into three training teams:
•
the Coalition
Military Assistance Training Team (CMATT) – to organise, train
and
equip the
Iraqi Army;
•
the Joint
Headquarters Advisory Support Team (JHQ‑ST) – to assist the
Iraqi
Army
command and control system; and
•
the Civilian
Police Assistance Training Team (CPATT) – to organise, train
and
equip the
Iraqi Police.
The UK also
provided a training team of approximately 10 personnel to MNSTC‑I
to
carry out
Basic Officer Training.373
The UK
training team became part of the NATO
mission in
2005.
370
Wright DP
& Reese TR. On Point
II: Transition to the New Campaign – The United States Army
in
Operation
IRAQI FREEDOM May 2003 – January 2005. Combined
Studies Institute Press, June 2008.
371
Wright
Dr DP & Reese Col TR. On Point
II: Transition to the New Campaign – The United States
Army
in Operation
IRAQI FREEDOM May 2003 – January 2005. Combined
Studies Institute Press, June 2008.
372
Wright
Dr DP & Reese Col TR. On Point
II: Transition to the New Campaign – The United States
Army
in Operation
IRAQI FREEDOM May 2003 – January 2005. Combined
Studies Institute Press, June 2008.
373
Minute
Vincent to Naworynsky, 21 February 2005, ‘The NATO Training Mission
Iraq (NTM‑I); Minute
Naworynsky
to Vincent, 22 February 2005, ‘The NATO Training Mission Iraq
(NTM‑I)’.
152