The Phantom Soldiers of Iraq

Nice assessment of the current state of the Iraqi Army. It seems like the War on Corruption in Iraq is finally being won. Congratulations guys!

Forces: The Phantom Soldiers of Iraq: "U.S. troops report that their Iraqi counterparts are much more dependable, and competent than they were a year or two ago. Most American soldiers in Iraq are on their second or third tour. Soldiers get about a year stateside before returning, so they notice the differences from their last visit, and 2008 is, to most of them, a major improvement over 2005 and 2006.

Despite efforts to clean things up, the Iraqis still have a lot of problems with corruption. Officials in the Ministry (MoD) of Defense seem to get greedier the farther up the food chain they are. Troops complain constantly of MoD officials stealing money for spare parts, fuel, and even ammunition. And a lot of the ammo they do get is ancient junk bought from the Chinese or Russians. These complaints are witnessed, and sent up the U.S. chain of command, by the American training teams assigned to all Iraqi battalions, brigades and divisions. The Iraqi troops have learned that their best hope of getting some help is to complain to their American advisors, and make the complaint seem credible. All these Iraqi corruption complaints to U.S. Army advisors is having some impact. The U.S. Department of Defense is putting pressure on Iraqi MoD officials, and getting U.S. media to do stories on the corruption problem.

Most Iraqi troops want to pacify their country. While many of them are just happy to be employed, those from unruly parts of the country (central Iraq) are eager to shut down the militias, criminal gangs and terrorists cells so their families will be safe, and they'll have something to go home to. Currently, most of the Iraqi army is assigned to central and northern (below the Kurdish controlled areas in the far north) Iraq, although recently over 20,000 cops and soldiers were sent into the southern city of Basra to shut down Shia militias. These troops have done well."