WASHINGTON, June 24 (UPI) -- Iraqi security forces did not initially work well because they were working "for the occupiers," U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell says.
In an interview published in the Los Angeles Times Thursday, Powell said the United States should have "built up the Iraqi security forces faster" after the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime last year.
He said there was "a weakness" in what the United States was doing in Iraq because the Iraqis were not directly working for their people.
"They were still essentially working for us -- for their country, but for the occupiers," he said.
There have been reports of Iraqi soldiers fleeing battles with insurgents. Powell said he hoped the new Iraqi government that takes over July 1 would make a difference, but cautioned against expecting too much too soon.
"It is one thing to get 40 guys, give them uniforms and then teach them how to go left, right, left, right; but before that is a platoon that you're ready to say is a "band of brothers" takes time," he said.
