Salon: Inside the Iraqi forces fiasco

[grytpype]

If you want to know how our exit strategy is going -- that is, training a new Iraqi army that can fight the insurgents better than we can -- check out this article from Salon.

Short answer: the training program is failing due to mismanagement and undersupply.

http://salon.com/news/feature/2006/08/14/military_advisors/index.html

Two quotes suffice to make the point:

But according to more than a dozen Marine and Army officers I spoke with, since its launch approximately a year ago, the MiTT program has been dogged by bureaucratic mismanagement, inadequate training, and an astonishing shortage of equipment and supplies -- the latter a predicament I witnessed firsthand with McCollough's team. Many servicemen assigned to the MiTTs are distraught by this state of affairs. One disillusioned lieutenant I spoke with said that despite his intense love of the Marine Corps, he would be leaving the service because of what he has observed during his advisory tour. A frustrated team leader told me, "Thirty years from now, when historians are trying to figure out how we lost this war, they'll look to the MiTT program."

and

But McCollough's team expressed concern about the long-term prospects for the Iraqi forces they've been training. Soldiers continue to desert, and the battalion is never at full strength because Iraqis expect to have at least one week of leave per month in order to ensure that their families are safe and provided for.

Several of the Marines said they've seen some progress with the Iraqis. Yet, despite the Marines' continual hectoring, the Iraqis' field discipline leaves much to be desired. A gunnery sergeant told me that, with few exceptions, the Iraqis were poor shots. The Marines were happy to have at least curtailed the infamous "death blossom" -- the Iraqis' indiscriminate spraying of bullets into the air. But many moments were frustrating for Marines accustomed to working with well-disciplined troops. A prime example occurred in June: In the middle of an extended gun battle, the Marines were flabbergasted to discover some of the Iraqi soldiers relaxing and eating watermelon instead of manning their weapons.

A number of veteran U.S. military advisors I spoke with believe that the training under way essentially will last only as long as American officers are physically present and directly supporting the Iraqi army units.

In short, we are failing to create an independent Iraqi army that will survive us pulling out.

[William Seger]

1. We've been training them for three years now

.. while we try to hold on to the country with guys who had 4 to 6 months training. Some of our guys who enlisted back then are getting out now... I'd have to guess that the problems are even more serious than the article indicates.

[Vincardog]

2. Does anyone believe that aWoL wants to create an independent Iraqi army ?

The Permanent War Plan does not include creating an independent Iraqi army

[NoAmericanTaliban]

3. Another failed Bush policy, but hey what else is new

When the Germans wanted to train the Iraq troops & police Bush told them - No way. it will take to long and besides we already promised Jordan to train the troops there. Also, instead of using the AKs captured from the Iraq Army we bought new ones from China. Wonder what that kick back was for?

[enigma000]

4. Generally speaking, Arabs aren't known for their soldiering abilities

Why Arabs Lose Wars
by Norvell B. De Atkine
Middle East Quarterly
December 1999
http://www.meforum.org/article/441

Arabic-speaking armies have been generally ineffective in the modern era. Egyptian regular forces did poorly against Yemeni irregulars in the 1960s.1 Syrians could only impose their will in Lebanon during the mid-1970s by the use of overwhelming weaponry and numbers.2 Iraqis showed ineptness against an Iranian military ripped apart by revolutionary turmoil in the 1980s and could not win a three-decades-long war against the Kurds.3 The Arab military performance on both sides of the 1990 Kuwait war was mediocre.4 And the Arabs have done poorly in nearly all the military confrontations with Israel. Why this unimpressive record? There are many factors—economic, ideological, technical—but perhaps the most important has to do with culture and certain societal attributes which inhibit Arabs from producing an effective military force.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

5. LOL.

Yeah, I remember them bringing that up back when they said Iraq was going to be a cake walk.

[enigma000]

6. As a traditional military fighting force, the Iraqis melted away

They just fought a guerrilla war instead. And since Iraqis seem better at insurgency than traditional military operations, we are in this mess today. Perhaps it is cultural - small bands of insurgents work better for them than large military formations.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

7. No shit they melted away.

That's exactly what were supposed to do when confronted with a vastly superior enemy.

Spare me this racist shite.

[enigma000]

8. I'm just making observations

Is there anything wrong with acknowledging cultural strengths and weaknesses?

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

9. Oh, I thought you were just quoting supremacist literature.

You know, giving us an example of what the other side is saying.

Not "making observations."

Yes, there's two obvious things wrong with it.

1. It's bigotry.

2. It's technically incorrect.

I can imagine some Nazi around 1940 going on about how "generally speaking, the Russians aren't known for their soldiering abilities."

:crazy: