http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20041019/wl_nm/iraq_police_dcThe U.S. general in charge of Baghdad said Tuesday it would be at least another eight months before the Iraqi capital had enough police, contradicting previous U.S. claims that numbers were sufficient. Maj. Gen. Pete Chiarelli, whose 1st Cavalry Division is responsible for security in Baghdad and its suburbs -- an area of about six million people -- said there were currently about 15,000 people working for the capital's force.
"We're about 10,000 short of what we need," he told reporters. "But by next spring, or early next summer, we'll be right where we need to be."
He said recruitment to the police force was strong despite almost daily suicide car bombings on recruitment posts in Baghdad and elsewhere. More than 1,000 police and recruits have been killed in bombs and shootings over the past year.
Chiarelli's timeframe may raise questions about whether Baghdad will have enough police to help provide security for the country's elections in January -- the biggest security test the interim Iraqi government faces.
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The huge shortfall of police in Baghdad is particularly remarkable because U.S. authorities repeatedly claimed ahead of the handover of power in June that numbers were sufficient.
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