By Borzou Daragahi
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
BAGHDAD — For the olive-green pickup truck, it was just one small stretch of road. For the half-dozen Iraqi men and one woman seated inside the cabin and flatbed, it was one giant leap.
For the first time since the announcement of sovereignty, the squad of young soldiers of the new Iraqi National Guard ventured out onto the streets without a U.S. Army escort.
The mission one recent day: Escort a busload of young recruits from the Muthana Airport base to Camp Sara, another base on the other side of town.
A giant Iraqi flag waved from their vehicle. A young gunner sat holding a machine gun. Pedestrians gawked. Onlookers waved, laughed or stared bewildered at the sight of Iraqi soldiers with no Americans in sight.
"Finally, my soldiers are patrolling on their own, without Americans," says Lt. Col. Heydar Abdul Rasool, commander of an Iraqi National Guard unit. "The flag of Iraq on the pickup was for them a sign of independence."
Despite making baby steps, the Iraqi National Guard is anything but independent.
The 30,000-soldier force created by the United States to provide domestic security still relies on Americans for critical equipment, including walkie-talkies, vehicles and bulletproof jackets.
American armored vehicles still stand guard at the gates of Muthana base, which has been subject to at least two fatal car bombings since the beginning of the year.
Most critically, the U.S. soldiers continue to train the young Iraqi recruits, many of them skinny teens desperately seeking jobs to feed their families. Salaries start at $175 a month.
"Before, I was a taxi driver," said Ali Sa'ad, a 19-year-old recruit wearing a khaki uniform that appears to be two sizes too large. "The army, it's better, because I can help my country, and plus, I can double my previous salary."
Shortly after the U.S. forces took Baghdad, U.S. Administrator L. Paul Bremer dissolved the Iraqi army, built by Saddam Hussein, that had become one of the Middle East's largest.
The decision has come to be seen by many Iraqis and Western analysts as the U.S. occupation force's biggest blunder. The ex-soldiers were recruited by insurgents opposed to the U.S. occupation and a huge pool of anti-American hostility developed.
The U.S.-led coalition since has backtracked, calling on old soldiers, including members of Saddam's Ba'ath Party, to reapply for their jobs.
When Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's government took the helm in late June, those calls became louder.
So far, fewer than 10,000 soldiers have joined or are in training for the new army, dedicated to protecting Iraq's borders, and more than 30,000 have signed up for the national guard.
American officials say it will be months, if not years, before the armed forces are up to the task of providing security.
"I don't foresee us going away for anytime soon," said 1st Sgt. William Taggart, 40, a Brooklyn, Mich., native and military trainer assigned to the U.S. Army's 1st Cavalry Division.
"They still need to be mentored. They are responsible, but we stay next to them to help them."
Col. Rasool, however, said he's eager for the Americans to leave, not because he opposes the occupation, but because he thinks his job will be that much more difficult if his men are perceived as U.S. stooges.
"We thank the Americans for training us," he said. "We've been under their orders for many months. But we get orders from the new Iraqi government. We have to be independent."
The Americans spent $3 billion on infrastructure, equipment and training by the end of June.
"There's still equipment that would help them and still some additional training that would help them," U.S. Army Lt. Gen. David Petreaus, in charge of training Iraqi security, said last month.
"We have to acknowledge that there is still a need for coalition forces to back Iraqis up. It takes time to build this type of infrastructure."
With the American soldiers now mostly safely ensconced behind well-fortified bases, it's been the Iraqi National Guard and Iraqi police forces that have borne the brunt of Iraqi insurgency.
The guard, renamed from the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps because Iraqis complained it sounded like the name of the fire department, already was attacked frequently before the June 28 transfer of power. Col. Rasool said he lost 40 of his 1,500 men in his first year.
"All our operations are dangerous, especially the raids," he said. "When we go on a patrol, we never know what can happen to us. Sometime there are some bombs hidden on the road. Sometimes they throw bombs from the top of the bridge."
In volatile areas, the Iraqi National Guard members used to wear masks to prevent retribution by insurgents. Most no longer do. But on this day's patrol, a few decide to hide their faces.
On her first mission without an American escort, 1st Soldier Susan Jassem, a 22-year-old recruit, covered her petite face as the pickup rumbled off the base.
"I'm no longer afraid of going on missions," she had boasted earlier.