Iraq Oil Cops Seen Ready To Guard Pipeline By 2011

From The Guardian:

BAGHDAD, Dec 14 (Reuters) - Iraq's specialised Oil Police will only be ready to take over full responsibility for protecting the nation's oil pipelines from theft and attack by late 2010, a top U.S. official said on Sunday.

"They need training. They need equipment. They need quality of life. They need to grow a little bit to take over," Lieutenant General Frank Helmick, head of U.S. military efforts to train Iraqi police and soldiers, said in an interview.

The web of pipelines connecting Iraqi oil fields, refineries and export facilities has peerless economic value for a country sitting on the world's third largest oil reserves.

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