This specialized new force, designed to handle riots and recapture police stations seized by militias, will consist of around 5,000 men.
Training will take several months.
The army is also building an intervention force to conduct urban warfare, but here too the program is slow. While the plan is to have some 7,500 men, only one battalion of around 700 will be ready to deploy in Baghdad by June 30. Another will be ready by August but the next does not come on line until December.
The problems are in part due to the colossal task facing the US and UK military in rebuilding the Iraqi state, but the sources said they were also a result of logistical breakdowns, unclear policies and an apparent rush to recruit troops many of whom are now recognized as unsuitable. There had been too much pressure to sign up large numbers and not enough vetting of individual candidates, the sources said.
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