WASHINGTON — Despite five years of training and equipping, the Iraqi military is still heavily dependent on U.S. operational support.A Defense Department report said less than 10 percent of Iraq Army battalions were capable of planning and executing counter-insurgency operations. The rest of the army combat battalions required anywhere from partial to significant support from the U.S. military and its coalition partners.
"There remains a critical reliance on coalition rotary wing assets and other enablers such as intelligence and close air and logistics support during operations," the Pentagon report, titled "Measuring Stability and Security in Iraq," said.
The report, dated Jan. 9, presented a graph that showed that 17 out of 181 Iraq Army combat battalions were capable of "planning, executing and sustaining COIN [counter-insurgency] operations" as of Oct. 20, 2008. Another 99 battalions were deemed capable of planning, executing and sustaining such operations with "Iraqi or coalition support and enablers."