Golden Division - the army that washed away the stain from the war against IS

The fight against IS in Iraq has seen recent major victories thanks to the contribution of an elite counter-terrorism unit called the Golden Division.

Soldiers from Iraq's elite counter-terrorism force, the Golden Division, gather before taking part in the operation to retake the city of Fallujah in May. Photo: AP

Iraq's counterterrorism unit, known as the Golden Division, was once so stigmatized that it was nicknamed the Dirty Division. After being accused of running secret prisons and killing people, some lawmakers have called for the force to be disbanded, according to the Washington Post.

But it is the fight against the Islamic State (IS) that has restored their prestige. The Golden Division is now the vanguard of most of the anti-IS operations in Iraq. The commanders who lead the division have become stars on the battlefield. A series of new songs have been released, praising their bravery.

Observers say the 10,000-strong force is a rare bright spot in the US effort to restructure the Iraqi military over the past 13 years. US officials say the Golden Division is their most reliable partner on the ground against IS, as the Iraqi military struggles with corruption and poor management.

Glorious achievements

Golden Division vehicles enter Fallujah last month. Photo: AP

As IS intensified its attacks to gain control of Iraq's largest oil refinery in the city of Baiji, north of the capital Baghdad, the Golden Division was also present, resisting strongly and still standing firm against hundreds of enemy suicide bombings.

Last year, they led the campaign to retake the city of Ramadi, crushing IS militants from east to west, despite previous difficulties for Iraqi federal police in attacking.

The Golden Division also made many achievements on the battlefields of Hit and Rutbah, successfully holding a series of villages along the Euphrates River.

Most recently, the Golden Division broke through IS defenses in Fallujah. With fire support from US air force fighter jets, armored vehicles of the Golden Division drove through areas planted with IS bombs, destroying the network of tunnels established by the militants under the city.

“They are the shock troops,” said Captain Mick Bednarek, who headed the Iraqi soldier training program from 2013 to 2015.

Clearing up bad reputation

The Golden Division counterterrorism force was created in 2003. US officials realized they needed a force to fight alongside them against insurgent movements. The Iraqi counterterrorism force was modeled after US special forces and recruited from a variety of religious and ethnic groups, including Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds.

When it was first established, the Golden Division caused much skepticism because it was under the direct control of the prime minister's office, not the Ministry of Defense or the Ministry of Interior. The then Iraqi Prime Minister, Nouri Al Maliki, was accused of using the force to purge political opponents.

Those allegations sparked outrage in Iraq, leading to calls for the force to be disbanded. After Maliki stepped down, the accusations that they were acting as the prime minister's lackeys ended.

"People used to hate us,"Colonel Arkan Fadhil, one of the senior commanders ofGolden Division,spoke about the force's "stain" before the fight against IS. "But now they respect us much more."

Late last year, as one of the vehicles carrying Golden Division troops drove through a Sunni neighborhood on the outskirts of Ramadi just as the city was liberated, children gave them candy and surrounded them for photos. Two years ago, people would have closed their doors and hidden in their homes, not so excitedly, according to a local Sunni official.

"The transformation of the Golden Division over the past two years has been remarkable," said a retired US Army special operations colonel who once advised Iraq's counterterrorism forces. "They have gone from the brink of disbandment to becoming the shining stars of Iraq."

Experts say the division's separation from Iraq's traditional security structure is part of the reason it has been so successful. It has managed to distance itself from the corruption that plagues the Iraqi military system.

The Golden Division remained united even when IS plunged Iraq into a deep crisis in 2014. Today, the Golden Division is "the most professional and skilled unit in all of Iraq's forces," Mr. Bednarek commented.

Heavy responsibility

Golden Division soldiers gather in the Al Haykil area southeast of Fallujah city. Photo: Washington Post

“We have done missions against select, high-value targets or small-group operations,” Fadhil said. “We have never done a large-scale operation that involved three or four battalions.”

The pressure of conducting a large-scale ground war is weighing heavily on the Golden Division, according to the Washington Post. Even as its fighters are focused on the Fallujah campaign, some are being sent back to Ramadi to retake the suburbs they took from IS months ago, as police and local tribes have lost control there again.

"The weakness of the army and other forces increased the pressure on us," said Major General Haider Al Obeidi, the front-line commander of the Golden Division. "When we advanced, we had to bypass many targets. We did not have time to search every house, every tunnel. We should have had a support team following us."

Shiite militias also came to Fallujah to help the Golden Division. However, using Shiite forces in a predominantly Sunni area was a sensitive matter. The Iraqi army later asked them to withdraw, leaving only a few Golden Division members to defend the city.

Previously, the soldiers of the Golden Division usually worked 7 days, trained 7 days and rested 7 days. Now, the schedule has changed to 14 days of work and 7 days of rest. However, due to the fierceness of the war, this schedule cannot always be maintained.

"We don't give them a break. They have to get used to it," said Colonel Fadhil, who was the first Iraqi to graduate from the US Ranger School, and hehad to fight for 118 consecutive days in Ramadi.

Being on the front lines against IS has also taken its toll on the Golden Division. The unit Fadhil commanded in December 2013 had 240 men. Now it has just 190.

Replacing these soldiers is extremely difficult because "you cannot produce large numbers of fighters with such skills and expertise," said Mr. Fadhil.

According to VNE