The US Department of Defensehas used confusing and perhaps misleading language in its Congressional reports to conceal the lack of progress being made on the number of Iraqi Security Force units capable of operating independently, according to a US non-partisan watchdog agency.
The Government Accountability Office says in its latest report that the Pentagon’s use of the terms “independent” and “fully independent” to describe ISF units – terminology that was phased out by the US military 18 months ago – creates at best an intolerable level of ambiguity and impedes Congress in its oversight role.
“First, the process by which ISF units are assessed does not allow for a rating of ‘independent’ or ‘fully independent’. Second, statements in DOD reports seemingly contradict claims of ISF independence,” states the report. “Without clarity regarding the criteria according to which ISF units are assessed as independent … Congress cannot have clear visibility over DOD’s role in assisting the ISF in becoming independent of coalition support.”
The Iraqi units’ continuing and overwhelming dependence on Coalition support is of great concern because their independence will be a prerequisite for US combat forces being withdrawn from Iraq.
The prospect for Iraqi units developing such capacity looks bleak.
ISF units are administered by the Iraqi Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of the Interior. The (Sunni-led) MOD oversees the Iraqi military, while the (Shia-led) MOI is responsible for the National Police and the Iraqi Police Service. The ministries also operate facilities to train recruits for their units.
Continuing sectarian violence in Iraq has forced both ministries to divert highly trained specialists into combat roles, which has undermined efforts to make the ISF units self-sustaining.
Both ministries – which have “undeveloped capacity” and are still rife with sectarian “militia elements” – have also failed to provide their units with logistical support, intelligence and command and control structures.
Meanwhile, the ministries continually fail to organize adequate fuel, equipment and maintenance to enable military and police units and training facilities to function.
Police and border patrols have been hard-hit by fuel shortages, creating untenable ongoing security issues.
One training facility was forced to close its doors due to lack of fuel (which powers electricity generators), while another managed to stay open by obtaining fuel from a Coalition unit in exchange for the use of one of its buildings. On another occasion, no computer support had been provided for 150 laptops used to train communications specialists; the school managed to stay open by finding a civilian pickup truck to barter with a US sustainment unit in exchange for computer support.
The GAO report states that the Pentagon has had to request hundreds of millions of dollars in additional funds as US forces take up the slack for the failures of the two dysfunctional and ineffectual ministries.
