27 Dec. Los Angeles Times - Skewed Loyalties in Security Forces.

Despite U.S. efforts to promote diversity in Iraq's security forces, the composition of the nation's police and military organizations remains lopsided in favor of the Kurdish and religious Shiite political slates that have dominated the interim government, according to preliminary results from the Dec. 15 parliamentary election.

Fewer than 10% of the Iraqi soldiers, police officers and others who voted early because they would be on duty election day cast ballots for Sunni Arab candidates, underscoring the skewed makeup of the forces that American planners have tried to build after dissolving those that served Saddam Hussein.

U.S. officials have hinted at troubles in developing ethnically and religiously integrated units. Results of the special voting, released Monday by the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq, reveal armed forces heavy with loyalties to Shiite religious parties and Kurdish politicians...