| Submit your comments on this article |
| Iraq |
| Iraqi Army Is Willing, but Not Ready, to Fight |
| 2008-08-06 |
| While the infantry is strong enough, Iraq needs viable artillery units, armored divisions, air force support and more reliable battlefield equipment, the officers said, plus the training all that requires. The soldiers and officers are for the most part zealously patriotic, but their zeal is tempered by the knowledge that they are the ones who may face the armies of neighboring countries, like Iran, after American combat forces withdraw. “It is 2008,” said Lt. Col. Muhammad Najim Khairi, a young officer in the Third Battalion of the Iraqi Army’s 19th Brigade. “We are too many years behind other countries. We need the coalition forces until 2015.” They know, too, however, that a decision about troop withdrawal could probably be made not by the military but by politicians in Baghdad or Washington, representing the wishes of voters impatient with the allies’ presence. Already there has been talk from Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki and the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, Senator Barack Obama, of a withdrawal of American combat troops by 2010. |
| Posted by:tu3031 |
| #3 See the long war journal for a long article about this. The Iraqi Army is currently organized to fight a guerrilla war. In 2009 it is scheduled to transition over to external defence. This should be complete by 2012. The Airforce will not be ready until 2020. The internal security mission is being turned over to the National Police. The leadership has been totally replaced and the troops retrained. Also most of the provincial SWAT teams are being transferred in. |
| Posted by: Frozen Al 2008-08-06 11:49 |
| #2 Probably have to wait several years, but I will get to tell you "Told you so". |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2008-08-06 11:48 |
| #1 The Iraqi military are in a very good situation. They know what they need, they have the money to get what they need, and they have motivated and experienced personnel. Their biggest risks are interface with their own government, the creation of a professional army ethic and culture at all rank levels, and the establishment of international military ties with valuable partners, such as NATO. Their goals should be to get the hardware and training they need so that Iran and Turkey will not even think about it; then importantly, to develop the capability to force project outside of Iraq, with the idea of becoming the "Muslim military", able to operate as international peacekeepers in Muslim lands. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2008-08-06 09:37 |