Training Iraqi Teams In Mosul

President Bush has said that American soldiers will only be able to come home from Iraq when the Iraqis are ready to handle their own security.

By the Pentagon's own estimate, only one-third of the Iraqi security forces trained since the U.S. invasion are fully prepared for anti-insurgent missions.

Correspondent Lara Logan takes a look at how that training is going in Mosul, one of the toughest cities in Iraq where the resistance has been brutal.

She was allowed to go along with newly formed SWAT teams of Iraqi commandos, aided and trained by small teams of U.S. Green Berets. Reporters usually aren't allowed to come along as the Americans put that training to the test -- as they try to track down suspected terrorists.

On this night, they'd entered the most dangerous part of the city to raid a telecommunications building where they believed three insurgents were hiding. As they forced their way in, it seemed for a moment like they were coming under armed attack.

But they soon found out those gunshots didn't come from the enemy. Instead, one of the Iraqi commandos had accidentally shot himself.

Inside the compound, the Iraqi police discovered two men, who were immediately detained. But the commandos had been sloppy. One of the Green Berets was enraged to discover that a suspect had been cuffed so tightly, his hands were turning blue. The men turned out to be security guards on duty, not insurgents, so they were released.

All in all, it was an uneven performance by this new Iraqi unit. And the Green Berets know they're not going home until the Iraqi forces can successfully operate on their own.

Back at their makeshift base, in an isolated part of town, just 10 Special Forces soldiers live side-by-side with 300 Iraqi commandos. 60 Minutes Wednesday talked to some of them about how these Iraqis are doing.

For security reasons, the Americans cannot be identified by their full names. Doug told 60 Minutes Wednesday that at first, the Iraqis would often discharge their weapons accidentally. But now, that happens less often.

"Now if you look at them, and I look at them all the time when we're on missions and stuff, and look at their fingers. And they're actually holding their fingers out of the trigger and their weapons are on safe," says Doug. "They're trying to point them in a safe direction -- doesn't always happen, but they're working towards that."

Regardless of how they handle their weapons, Issac, one of the team's master trainers, said the commandos have one advantage Americans can never have: they are Iraqis.

"They've seen us day in and day out roll by their palaces, roll down their streets," says Issac. "But today, we stopped at their house, and nine times out of 10, the first face they see is an Iraqi policeman coming up to grab them and that puts a whole other spin on it."

And Mike, a medic, said he'd noticed the effect they'd been having on the local population: "Every face that I've seen, when that door cracked open on these guys we've rolled up, has been this look of utter surprise that we're even there. And to put on top of that is the fact that they're being taken in by Iraqis. They're not being handled, per se, with U.S. hands, but they're being taken in by Iraqis, and they just all of a sudden spill their guts. These guys were unprepared for that."

Iraqi police on the job is something the people in Mosul haven't seen since insurgents staged a massive uprising in November last year, decimating the local police force. Cars were set on fire and many policemen simply ran away as their police stations were overrun.

Since then, more than 160 people have been murdered, their bodies turning up on the streets. Like the headless corpse in one photograph that was deliberately left on display in the middle of a public road.

"Looking at these commandos and their level of training and expertise, how long before they were able to do this thing on their own?" asks Logan.

"Six months. I would say six months of steady training," says Doug. "It takes an American soldier eight or nine weeks to learn how to march. We've only been training them for three weeks and we're taking them into combat. You can't expect in three weeks to grasp everything."

But they've grasped enough to take the lead on raids like this one -- when the Iraqi commandos burst in on Hamed Latif, who was wanted for the murder of four Iraqi policemen. He was arrested along with his father and older brother. All three were delivered into Iraqi police custody at the brigade headquarters, where the commandos cheered their success.

The Iraqi police publicly claimed that under interrogation, Hamed, 24, had confessed to killing dozens of people. And they said he'd given up valuable information: the top terrorist leader in Mosul would meet with his lieutenants at a local mosque the following day.

So the next day, 60 Minutes Wednesday went along as the commandos stormed the mosque just before the end of mid-morning prayers and lined up everyone in the courtyard.

To help them identify insurgents, Hamed was brought from his prison cell. A police captain led him down the rows of suspects. He could see each one through his mask, staring at them one by one, with a word condemning those he claimed were insurgents. They were immediately hauled off and arrested, 20 in all, taken into Iraqi police custody.

Another wanted terrorist was a man who Logan was allowed to see, but not interview: Muataz Jawb, who was accused of committing multiple beheadings.

Mosul also got to see Jawb when the Iraqi authorities paraded him and other prisoners on local television. This new tactic of publicly shaming captives has been criticized by international human rights groups, but Warren, one of the Green Berets, told 60 Minutes Wednesday it had been well received by the people.

"The hotlines into the TV station have been ringing off the hook," says Warren. "People are turning in people left and right that are involved in the insurgency."

And back at the base, 60 Minutes Wednesday asked the Green Berets what effect showing the accused insurgents on TV was having on the Iraqi commandos.

Keith said it had motivated them. "They're seeing them on TV and they're like, 'Hey, I was responsible for that.' Because they actually had the hands on, and they were there on the target," says Keith. "And since they can see an effect between seeing a guy that they've put away on TV and hearing the word on the street since elections, 'Hey, we're actually glad that they're here.'"

The Green Berets' team captain, Darren, was briefing his men for their next mission. He told 60 Minutes Wednesday that it's increasingly the Iraqis who are driving these missions, by getting intelligence from their prisoners, like Muataz Jawb, the man they call "The Butcher."

"The butcher has already been rolled up, he's one of the guys that generated this target," says Darren. "So we've got this guy. He's apparently the superior to the Butcher himself."

He'd told them where to find other members of his insurgent cell that specializes in beheadings.

An undercover policeman, with his face hidden, quickly separated out those he said were innocent from those he said he recognized as members of the beheading cell. Commandos cuffed them -- this time, much more carefully. Policemen then stood guard while the source moved through the area, calmly checking identities.

The commandos arrested four alleged members of the beheading cell, one of whom they believed was among the gang's most powerful figures, it's chief financier.

The Green Berets were conspicuous by their absence as they let the Iraqi commandos run their own show – and the people seemed to welcome them:

Were they surprised at the way people reacted towards the Iraqi police?

"Absolutely. It was amazing the reaction they had," says Darren. "Some comments that were made to the commander was that they should come every day and do this."

There may not be a more dangerous job in the world right now than to be an Iraqi police officer. Last year, approximately 2,000 policemen were killed in the line of duty there, and hundreds more police recruits were murdered before they even finished their training.