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Iraq
U.S. mulls activating Iraqi units for stability
2003-11-02
Some American military officers in Iraq are pressing to reconstitute entire units of the former Iraqi army, which the U.S. disbanded in May. They say the change would speed the creation of a new army and bring stability. Ideas under discussion at the military’s headquarters in Baghdad include proposals to identify former Iraqi officers and weed out those still loyal to Saddam Hussein. Those who pass the screening would be asked to track down troops previously under their command, to reassemble complete companies and battalions rapidly.
I dunno about this.
"We feel we could contact a midlevel officer—say, the rank of captain or major—who knows where all the members of his unit are today," said one senior military officer at the occupation’s Baghdad headquarters. The talks are at an early stage and do not represent a plan. The crucial decision by U.S. administrator Paul Bremer to dismantle the defeated 500,000-member Iraqi army, has been criticized as a mistake. It marked a turning point in the postwar occupation, but some say it has contributed to the instability and increasing attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq. The decision reversed the approach of Bremer’s predecessor, Jay Garner, a retired Army lieutenant general, who advocated paying members of the former Iraqi army as a way to keep their units intact for reconstruction and to prevent them from turning hostile.
I thought sending them home was a good idea, too. As an army they were pretty useless, much more of a danger to the citizenry than to other armies. Except Arab armies, or the Medes and Persians, of course...
Senior military officers in Iraq and Washington say they are considering ways to make up for lost time by putting an Iraqi face on the occupation forces’ efforts. "We don’t see a solution without co-opting the former military to some degree," said one senior military officer in Baghdad who has reviewed what needs to be done to field a new Iraqi army quickly. Iraqi combat units, in particular Republican Guard and tank units, would not be among those reconstituted, officers said.
But the regular army was pretty poorly led and motivated. Might take as much time and effort to ’reconstitute’ these units properly as to get new soldiers enlisted and trained.
That was my thought, too.
Posted by:Steve White

#3  The stuff I've read indicates that Iraqi basic training program was fine. We can activate as many units as we can train E-4's and above to lead.

Many of the active duty folks were really engaged in non-military activities. The construction industry, for instance, was part of the military. Those units should probably be reformed in the private sector.

Old Patriot suggested that the troops that are currently shooting up the jehadis on the border will probably gain enough experience to fill in the mid-level of the enlisted ranks and lower echelon of the officer corps.

My only reservation is that these new tropps are effectively swearing to uphold a constitution that hasn't been written. These units need to be carefully controlled.
Posted by: Super Hose   2003-11-2 6:55:24 PM  

#2  No.
Posted by: Shipman   2003-11-2 6:19:05 PM  

#1  I had the impression that the "regular" Iraqi army (not Republican Guards or Special Repl. Guards) were mainly conscripts -- but that might be a lingering memory from 1991...
Posted by: snellenr   2003-11-2 4:24:54 PM  

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