US embassy cable - 03AMMAN8071

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 008071 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/10/2013 
TAGS: PREL, MOPS, PGOV, IZ, JO 
SUBJECT: IRAQI POLICE TRAINING CENTER IN JORDAN SPUTTERS TO 
LIFE 
 
Classified By: CDA David Hale for reasons 1.5 (b) (d) 
 
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Summary 
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1.  (C)  The new Iraqi police training center in Jordan 
recently received its first class of approximately 500 
trainees.  The center ultimately plans to provide basic 
police training to 32,000 Iraqi recruits.  The GOJ and the 
training staff, some of whom trained police in Kosovo, 
understand the importance of this effort to future stability 
in Iraq.  The international response has been positive, with 
six countries committing trainers and another eight 
expressing interest.  END SUMMARY 
 
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POLICE TRAINING CENTER BLOOMS IN THE DESERT 
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2.  (C)  Emboffs December 10 visited the Iraqi police 
training center one hour outside Amman, to observe progress 
in the program.  486 Iraqi trainees arrived November 29 via 
milair from Baghdad for an eight-week basic police course at 
the invitation of the Jordanian government.  The training is 
conducted by U.S., British, and other third country trainers, 
assisted by Jordanian and Iraqi police.  A group from the 
Royal Canadian Mounted Police was in Jordan this week to 
confirm plans to send 20 additional trainers to Jordan by 
January 11, and the Norwegian Ambassador said that Norway, 
too, is likely to deploy a small number of trainers early in 
the new year. 
 
3.  (C)  Rin Shadforth, a British police officer who is 
deputy director of the training center, said the instructors 
use a slightly modified version of the basic police course 
taught in Kosovo.  Classes are taught in English, with 
consecutive Arabic translation.  Shadforth said the center 
will produce a large number of police with basic training, 
but will not fill the need for supervisory training (which he 
said would be done separately at the police training facility 
in Basra).  The teaching staff is trying to identify likely 
candidates for further leadership training. 
 
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AN IRAQI MELTING POT 
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4.  (C)  According to the teaching staff at the center, the 
Iraqi police trainees come from all over Iraq.  Despite 
concerns that the group might break into regional, ethnic, or 
religious factions, trainers report that the group has been 
cohesive.  The trainees were actually recruited two years ago 
under the previous regime, and were in the Saddam regime 
police training pipeline at the war's outbreak.  This group 
of 486 (19 of whom will be sent back to Iraq because they are 
under the age of 18) will be followed by another five hundred 
in January.  While there are no women in the first class, 
eight females have been identified for a future class, and 
the facility is prepared to accommodate women.  Originally 
1,000 recruits were scheduled to arrive in January, but half 
of these will now complete their training in Iraq instead. 
By February the center expects to receive 1,500 trainees per 
month, so that at any one time there will be 3,000 recruits 
in training.  The cycle will continue until 32,000 Iraqi 
police have been trained. 
 
5.  (C)  Conditions at the training site, which did not exist 
two months ago, are spartan.  However, dormitories, dining 
halls, and classrooms are all functional.  (The UK training 
staff is being housed in apartments in Amman, although most 
U.S. contract trainers are residing at the separate trainers' 
residence facility in the nearby town of Jawa, provided by 
Jordan's Public Security Directorate.)  Construction of a 
practice motorway and a firing range is still underway; the 
center hopes to complete the firing range soon.  There are no 
plans for a simulated urban site for tactical training, along 
the lines of "Hogan,s Alley" at Quantico.  Most of the 
training at this point is basic theory and drills.  State/DS 
is supplying the weapons for the training center. 
 
6.  (SBU)  Ann Bertucci, a Dyncorps employee who is 
spokeswoman for the center, said the GOJ plans to organize an 
inauguration ceremony for the training center later this 
month.  Post is assisting with plans for the event. 
 
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COMMENT 
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7.  (C)  The GOJ and the training staff understand the 
importance of this effort to future stability in Iraq.  While 
admittedly off to a slow start -- particularly on 
construction of the facilities that will be needed to house 
as many as 3,000 trainees -- the police training center is up 
and running, and will now expand quickly.  The international 
response has also been positive, with six nations already 
committing trainers: Jordan, Iraq, U.S., UK, and Austria, 
with a definitive promise from Canada.  Slovenia, Slovakia, 
the Czech Republic, Poland, Estonia, Finland, Norway and 
Sweden have also expressed a willingness to send trainers. 
 
8.  (U)  CPA Baghdad minimize considered. 
 
Visit Embassy Amman's classified web site at 
 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/amman/ 
 
or access the site through the State Department's SIPRNET 
home page. 
HALE