copyright 2009, The Washington Post BAGHDAD -- After helping to stanch a stubborn insurgency and harrowing sectarian fighting, security forces in Baghdad now worry they could face a challenge no less difficult: their own men. A recent spate of high-profile crimes, including a brazen and violent heist of Baghdad jewelry shops thought to have involved police collusion, has forced Interior Ministry officials to confront head-on the corruption within the ranks of the 663,000-strong security forces. The problems, the officials say, include cases in which troops and officers are working at the behest of political leaders, as well as instances in which security forces are engaged in a range of crimes, from petty robberies at checkpoints to kidnappings and killings. Corruption within the security forces is not new, but it has become more glaring amid the decline in the sectarian fighting that once ravaged Baghdad and other parts of the country. Brig. Gen. Hussein Kamal, the Interior Ministry official in charge of intelligence, was blunt in acknowledging the problem. 'There's a need to reorganize and cleanse the security forces and armed forces from extremists and criminals,' he said in an interview. 'We need 10 years to reach the level of professionalism that we aspire for.' More than a simple issue of security in Baghdad and the rest of Iraq, the security forces are a linchpin of U.S. plans to withdraw combat troops by August. The Iraqi forces have received billions of dollars in training and equipment from the United States. U.S. officials say the Iraqi army has made the greatest strides. Less impressive are the more numerous police forces, who often complain of mistreatment at the checkpoints they man, a sign of residents' contempt toward them. Kamal, whose unit is in charge of conducting security checks on policemen and recruits, said he dismissed 60,000 people this year from the Interior Ministry after determining that they had criminal records. He said 15,000 were expelled last year. U.S. military officials deferred questions about the dismissals to their Iraqi counterparts. This summer, another senior official said, the Interior Ministry was forced to induct 1,500 recruits into the police force who were nominated by Iraqi political parties. None of them, he said, was competent, adding: 'They were only there to carry out their parties' agendas.' 'The police are the most corrupt,' said a former Defense Ministry official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, as did several others, because of fears that his statements might endanger him. The official said political parties still had undue influence within the security forces. But these days, their agendas appear to be less sectarian and more motivated by their own standing vis-a-vis rivals, often from the same sect. 'We have two options in front of us: a new occupation or an enormous effort to get rid of corruption,' he said. Neither seemed likely, he added. The problem could worsen as the country heads toward parliamentary elections in January, lawmakers warn. Some worry that parties may draw on their followers in the security forces as a way of putting pressure on their rivals. Already in Anbar province, especially in the city of Fallujah, political violence has surged lately, residents say. Special correspondent Qais Mizher contributed to this report. 