| Submit your comments on this article |
| Iraq |
| Fallujah: Iraq Army Needs US Combat Support |
| 2006-10-25 |
| Two years after U.S. troops assaulted this mostly Sunni Muslim city of 300,000 in the heart of Iraq's violent Anbar province in a major offensive to retake it from insurgents, Iraqi units are responsible for patrolling two-thirds of Fallujah and often do it well, their U.S. advisers say. But the Americans - and the Iraqis themselves - are frustrated that the Iraqis still can't fight on their own. A recent press report claimed embezzlement in the Iraq forces reached up to $800 million. Probably an exaggeration, but supply concerns suggest real theft problem. They don't have heavy weapons, such as tanks. They struggle to get supplies. Most importantly, there just aren't enough Iraqi troops to secure the city properly or, on some days, even to mount foot patrols. Daniel Pipes suggests rebasing US troops well outside of Iraq cities, and leaving all security - except air support - to the locals. That would leave warlords in control. Iraqization must follow total assaults against war lord strongpoints. Why? Because they are often loaded with Saudi or Iranian funds, with which they can lever local military compliance, with bribery. A gradualist approach cannot effectively counter the terror chiefs. The Iraqi unit working in Fallujah, the 2nd Brigade of the 1st Division, is 750 men short of its full strength of 2,450, and only two-thirds of those are available at any given time because of the army's generous leave policy. I would begin by directing investigative detentions of locals, for intelligence purpose. Interestingly, that type of temporary custody is allowed under US law. Iraqis would seize about 100 locals from each major sector of Fallujah, and interrogate each separately. Many will not speak out of fear; but a few will identify terror sources. It would be disastrous for terrorists to murder all potential informants, because there would be so many. Assessment as to accuracy, would be followed by air attacks with large bombs on targets. (Most collaterals would probably be ideologically close to the enemy). Seeing the warlords picked off would raise morale among Iraqi troops. Until order is established, I would set up Green Zone models where troops and families could live in security, out of bribery range. Lt. Col. James Teeples, who oversees the teams of U.S. military trainers living and working with the Iraqi troops in Fallujah, said Iraqi soldiers faced a long list of problems that were sapping morale. They include corruption among senior leaders, an inefficient pay system that's left some unpaid for months and a Byzantine promotion system that leaves good leaders, such as the brigade's second in command, languishing in lower posts. Effective oversight would be required, in face of the high level of corruption. Teeples said that one senior Iraqi officer had been stealing equipment such as air conditioners and reselling it, and collecting pay for soldiers who existed only on paper. Iraqi officers elsewhere have taken bribes from contractors who supply poor-quality items such as meat that's too old. In one case, beans came from the U.N.'s oil for food program, which ended in 2003. It is where military leaders are not subject to the rule of law, where these acts occur. Military-Justice authority must be an adjunct of supreme military command. The Iraqi officer in charge of the battalion that includes Company 4 acknowledged that his troops are nowhere near being able to operate without the Americans. "We need their support, because right now the Iraq army isn't strong enough to take over," said Lt. Col. Tasen Jabar Abed, 40. Face it: jihadi-warlords can set up IEDs, RPG traps and sniper nests at will. Another couple of years of daily US troop losses, will cripple US will to fight. It is now or never. Any other ideas on what might work? |
| Posted by:Snease Shaiting3550 |
| #10 The time honored solution to corruption in the military is to start public executions of those caught with their hands in the till followed by a very short one time amnesty for those who come clean. This also creates paths for upward mobility while replacing soured administrators. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2006-10-25 19:55 |
| #9 Yo, Kurds: Allee, Allee in free! Lol. |
| Posted by: .com 2006-10-25 18:56 |
| #8 Well there are a lot of Kurds, but many of them are in Turkey, Syria and Iran. |
| Posted by: lotp 2006-10-25 18:52 |
| #7 Daniel Pipes is smart, ME-culturally literate, but militarily you'd be better off (that's not saying much) taking advice from me on how to do the job. Instead: Listen to your troops/NCO's and people in theater. Sounds like that's what we're doing. Now, make it work |
| Posted by: Frank G 2006-10-25 18:46 |
| #6 11A5S - just post after 5:00 PM Eastern - lh apparently only posts from work, lol. :-) If only there were more Kurds. LOTS more Kurds, more than there are Shia, specifically, then Iraq could go internal soon and make a go of it - and succeed. The age-old problem in the M.E. - too many fucking Arabs, lol. I got yer back, bro, lol. |
| Posted by: .com 2006-10-25 16:57 |
| #5 Point well taken .com In India, the Brits divided the peoples into warlike and unwarlike races. I was going to suggest using the Kurds and Turkish peoples to police the Arabs, but was worried lest LH or someone else here accuse me of racism. But what the hell. There it is. |
| Posted by: 11A5S 2006-10-25 16:26 |
| #4 The time honored solution to corruption in the military is to start public executions of those caught with their hands in the till followed by a very short one time amnesty for those who come clean. |
| Posted by: RWV 2006-10-25 09:21 |
| #3 One of the key points is corruption / misappropriation of funds / embezzlement. Would like more details on "Sepoy" system, how did that prevent theft in office? How can rule of law be established in such a chaotic area? Leaving air support to locals has a problem - without reliable local intelligence, how will the US know its air support isn't being used like a death squad? |
| Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2006-10-25 07:27 |
| #2 Heh, 11A5S. They're Arabs. Everything we do regards them is problematic, all successes will be partial, all failures deadly, all efforts swallowed up in the Black Hole of Araby. Lol. |
| Posted by: .com 2006-10-25 04:24 |
| #1 Perhaps the best solution would be something along the lines of the Sepoy system. Get the logistics, finance, and leadership above the company level out of the hands of the Iraqis. Your good company commanders could be promoted to police battalion commanders in order to create an upwards mobility path. |
| Posted by: 11A5S 2006-10-25 01:32 |