Iraq ? U.S. soldiers preparing for raids study maps, examine photos of wanted men and check their weapons. Starting next month, they’ll have to go see a judge.

For nearly six years, American troops have been free under a U.N. mandate to search any home and detain anyone deemed a security risk.

All that changes next month, when the mandate expires and a U.S.-Iraqi security agreement takes effect. From then on, troops must obtain Iraqi warrants for searches and arrests — and U.S. officers say the requirement is one of the biggest headaches in complying with the new rules.

“It takes away the option of saying, ‘hey, this guy just came into town and we want him and we want him now,'” said Capt. Tom Smith, a company commander on his second tour in Iraq. “For some of us who were here before, it feels a bit slow.”

U.S. troops are scrambling to learn the ins and outs of an Iraqi legal system with unfamiliar rules and procedures, a cumbersome bureaucracy and a shortage of judges after years of violence.