U.S. Belatedly Delivers the Dinars to Iraqui Corps

For any military force, one day stands out from all others, and Friday was that day for the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps: payday.

Hundreds of members of the new force arrived early at a Marine camp here to receive their overdue pay for the month of April. Fighting between insurgents and Marines had disrupted transportation and cut the flow of dinars from Baghdad to this Sunni Triangle city.

But this week a heavily armed Marine convoy made the trek to a Baghdad bank and returned with sacks containing 763,754,080 dinars, worth more than $460,000. That’s more than enough to cover payroll for 1,200 members of the 505th and 506th brigades of the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps.

Still, on Friday, there was griping. Corps members have been manning checkpoints and patrolling the city since the withdrawal of most Marine units. But they are paid less than Iraqi police. Also, because many members did not respond well when asked to put an Iraqi face on the Marine mission here, they are not receiving their full allotment of “hostile fire” pay.

“A lot depends on pay,” said Capt. Ghazy Khalief Hadeed. “If members get paid, they will stay and fight. But if not, they will go to other jobs. They have to find food for their families.”

Many of them barely make enough money to pay their transportation costs to and from work, Hadeed said. “It cannot continue like that.”

A private in the corps earns a base salary of $60 a month. A second lieutenant earns about $115, and a colonel earns $175. Hostile fire pay depends on the number and intensity of gun battles.

In a way that has yet to be fully determined, the ICDC will come under the control of the Fallouja Brigade, the military force being formed by former Iraqi generals in response to a call from Marine brass for the Iraqis to assume responsibility for security here.

Still, this much seems clear: As the ICDC goes, so goes the drive to make Fallouja safe for Westerners who aim to launch the projects that are seen as key to the city’s future.

The Marine Corps, which has trained the defense corps, hopes to introduce a direct-deposit system so checks can be sent to members’ bank accounts. For now, Marines are handing out stacks of dinars from large sacks, boxes and garbage bags.

The number of corps members left on the rolls is unclear. Many fled when the Marines and insurgents began exchanging gunfire. Some want to return, but their officers won’t let them. “They’re clearing out the chaff,” said Marine Capt. Phil Cushman.