Basra's Jamiat police station was a place of terror during Saddam Hussein’s dictatorship. In the wake of the US-led invasion there was widespread rejoicing as angry crowds attacking the most notorious monuments of the hated regime trashed much of the building. Tragically, however, Jamiat once again became a byword for savagery by policemen who ought to have been protecting, not persecuting, the public they were hired to serve.
Until yesterday, the Jamiat precinct house was the headquarters of Basra’s Serious Crimes Unit, a police formation with a fearsome reputation as a thuggish death squad. It is now a pile of rubble. The British Army stormed the building allegedly to stop the execution of some of the 127 prisoners held there, many of whom had been tortured and abused. On Friday, seven commanders of the Serious Crimes Unit were seized in dawn raids. Yesterday more members of the unit were detained. The prisoners they were said to have been abusing were transferred to other police stations.
Many Basra citizens of various backgrounds will probably be pleased that a thuggish organization that brought the forces of law and order into disrepute has been destroyed in such a spectacular manner. There will also however be anger that the British allowed this police unit to establish such a merciless hegemony, not only over the luckless people of Basra but also over other police formations. The British are after all still responsible for security. They had selected and trained the new police officers who replaced Saddam’s disbanded units. They have also long been aware of the renegade nature of the Serious Crime Unit. It was members of this squad who last September seized two British soldiers, believed to be members of the SAS. A British raid on the Jamiat police house freed the men.
The British have effectively ceded day-to-day control of the streets to rival Shiite factions who have been battling each other for power. But the Serious Crimes Unit remained in their sights after the September incident. The planned executions gave the British the opportunity to settle the score. Unfortunately, it seems highly unlikely that this is the start of a coordinated drive to break the power of the militias, in and out of uniform. Fully 1,000 troops were used in this operation — almost a seventh of the total British presence in southern Iraq. This was almost certainly a special operation, mounted to remind Basra’s warring factions that the occupation force still has teeth.
The long-term effect on security in Iraq’s second largest city must however be doubted. Rival militias will seek to fill the space occupied by the murderous bullies of the Serious Crimes Unit. Decent policemen who wish only to serve their community will still be exposed to threats and malign influence.
The tragic truth is that the British, despite their more subtle approach than the Americans, have allowed the security initiative to slip away from them. There is now very little they can do to protect ordinary Iraqis from the militia warlords.
