Iraqi Deserters Describe Surveillance

(Washington Post) Daniel Williams - It is difficult to escape the eye of military commissars assigned to Iraqi units to watch for signs of dissent, deserters say. Checkpoints are placed as much to discourage desertion as enemy infiltration, manned by the army, militias and armed members of the ruling Baath Party. "It's a tradition to keep the Baathists in the rear, to keep an eye on us," one said.