Tim Ripley profiles the Iraqi armed forces five years on from the overthrow of President Saddam Hussein's government
In the five year's since the US-led invasion of Iraq the Middle Eastern country appears to be emerging from the dark years of civil turmoil and conflict. The US Army's ‘surge' of troops into Iraq from early 2007 onwards has appeared to have turned around the level of insurgent attacks and the daily death toll.
A key element of the ‘surge' has been a resurgence of the Iraqi armed forces and they are now taking the lead in security operations in an increasing number of provinces in the country.
The spike in global oil price towards $140 per barrel this year has resulted in Iraqi government revenues peaking towards to $86.5 billion this which is expected to result in a major boost to Iraqi defence and security spending, including the purchase of significant quantities of new hardware to replace Soviet era equipment with more modern tanks, vehicles, ships and aircraft from the US.

New Security Landscape

In the first half of 2007, Iraq was convulsed by violence. According to the US Government Accounting Office there were on average 180 insurgent attacks a day. Civilian casualties were running at more than a 2,000 dead a month as car bombs and sectarian attacks ravaged the capital and the central provinces of the country. The United Nations estimated that 2.7 million Iraqis were displaced within the country and further two million had fled the county. This represented nearly a fifth of the population. It was widely predicted that the country would break apart as a result of the virtual civil war that was being waged between Iraqi Shia and Sunni communities. The US forces in the country were losing around a 100 dead a month and in the south of Iraq 47 British soldiers were killed during 2007.
Rather than withdraw from Iraq, as many Congressional critics demanded, US President George Bush ordered the now famous ‘surge' and increased US troop strength up from 140,000 to nearly 180,000. General David H. Petraeus was appointed to lead US forces in Iraq in February 2007 and he completely overhaul American and Iraqi strategy. Tens of thousands of US troops were moved out of their huge bases and deployed in small bases around Baghdad to fight the insurgents at street level. More controversially, Petraeus opened negotiations with tribes in the so-called Sunni Triangle to the west of Baghdad and managed to persuade them to come over to the government side and turn on foreign fighters in their towns and villages. Dubbed the so-called ‘Sons of Iraq' these Sunni tribal militia provided more than 100,000 armed men to the Iraqi government side in key battleground provinces.
Hand-in-hand with political engagement with key tribes, the US military continued to pour time, money and people into building up the Iraqi government militia, under the direction of US-led Multi-National Security Transition Command - Iraq (MNSTC-I). From January 2007 to April 2008, the strength of the trained Iraqi military and security forces jumped from 323,000 to about 478,000. By the summer of 2008, the surge had dramatically reduced insurgent attacks to around 45 a day across Iraq, prompting a return of refugees, a spike of economic activity and reduction in casualties among US forces. In mid-2008 US casualties levels in Afghanistan surpassed those in Iraq for the first time since the start of the US occupation, with less than 20 US soldiers killed in Iraq in July 2008 compared to 121 in May 2007.
The apparent success of the surge, brought direct political benefits to the government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who no longer appeared such a beleaguered figure. In March, the newly confident Prime Minister launched his re-vamped army on an offensive against militia forces loyal to the Shia cleric Moqtada al Sadr in the southern city of Basra. Dubbed Operation Charge of the Knights, the offensive by troops of two Iraqi divisions, with US and British specialist support, started slowly but by early May it had achieved far in excess of expectations. Militia activity in the south dropped dramatically and Sadr ordered his fighters put down their weapons and to form a non-military political organisation.
By the summer of 2008, Petraeus had been able to drop US troop numbers to pre-surge levels. Negotiations had begun with the Iraqi government on further withdrawals and the signing of a bilateral status of forces agreement by the end of the year to replace the old United Nations mandate the governs the international troop presence in Iraq. Al-Maliki even suggested that all US troops be out of the country by 2010-11 at the latest.

Armed and Security Forces

This situation is a dramatic turn around from four years ago when the newly established Iraqi interim authority could barely muster a few thousands troops who were loyal to it. The new Iraqi interim authority, assumed control of a mixed bag of military, paramilitary and police organisations that the US and coalition forces had formed over the previous year since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein's government.
Iraq's two main 'power' ministries - defence and interior - were formed at this time. The early emphasis of US and coalition forces in getting "Iraqi boots on the ground" to take the pressure off their troops meant rebuilding the Iraqi security forces was very much a bottom-up process. As a result, the more senior levels of Iraq's defence and security establishment are still relatively immature.
The bulk of funding for rebuilding Iraq's military and security forces has come from US sources, with $13.7 billion being provided by the US and only $2.9 billion being spent by the Iraqi government between 2005 and 2008. However, it is expected that the government in Baghdad will take on a greater role in armed forces budgeting and equipment procurement as oil revenues surge during this year.

Combat Forces

The country's Ministry of Interior (MoI) forces have assumed the majority of the burden of Iraq's effort to defeat the insurgency and establish law and order. According to the US Department of Defense's (DoD) June 2008 report to the US Congress, 'Measuring Security and Stability in Iraq', MoI security forces consist of the Iraqi Police Service (IPS), the National Police (NP), the Directorate of Border Enforcement (DBE) and the Oil Protection Force (OPF) and mustered a combined total of some 365,000 personnel. The largest MoI component is the Iraqi Police Service (IPS), which, according to the DoD, 2008, consisted of 291,497 patrol, station and traffic personnel. The IPS is noted for being poorly trained and equipped. More ominously, UK and US military commanders have regularly accused the IPS of being heavily infiltrated by unofficial militia loyal to political parties.
In May 2008 the Iraqi Ministry of Defence (MoD) boasted some 190,653 personnel under its control, according to the US DoD. The vast majority of these personnel serve in the Iraqi Army. Small air and naval elements are integrated with the Ground Forces Command (GFC) in the MoD Joint Headquarters in Baghdad. There are now some 3,77 personnel assigned to Iraq's Special Operations Forces, which report to the Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Bureau.
The army currently has 11 infantry and one mechanised divisions, with another division is in the process of being formed. It comprises a mix of infantry battalions, mechanised infantry battalions and tank battalions equipped with T-55s and T-72 main battle tanks.
Much of the initial equipment provided for the rehabilitated Iraqi Army was designed for the counterinsurgency role and mostly comprised ex-US Army HMMWVs utility trucks and MRAP mine protected vehicles. This has recently been followed by a range of armoured fighting velicle deliveries, including 600 4x4 Dzik armoured vehicle from Poland and 4x4 Otokar armoured Land Rovers from Turkey. Greece supplied 100 surplus BMP-1 infantry fighting vehicles while Hungary supplied 66 8x8 BTR-80 APCs and 77 T-72 tanks and Jordan supplied 50 8x8 BTR-94 and 26 Spartan armoured vehicles. Most of this equipment was of Russian design as Iraqi troops were familiar with it and required little operation and maintenance training.
Three large bases have been built to train recruits and these are now operated jointly by coalition and Iraqi training personnel. The middle- and senior-level officer corps have predominately served in the old Iraqi Army and, as a result, are mainly of Sunni origin. The Iraqi military is an all-volunteer force and the suspicion remains that many recruits only join because of their desperate need to secure paid employment, rather than loyalty to the country's new government.

Air and Naval Forces

Iraq's small air force is only around 1,580-personnel strong and concentrates on reconnaissance, battlefield mobility and air transport. Its new headquarters has recently opened at the new Al-Muthanna airbase in Baghdad. It currently has 61 assigned aircraft and anticipates receiving 20 more aircraft in 2008. The Iraqi air force has flown 2,525 sorties so far this year, to include a surge during support for Operation Charge of the Knights.
The control and defence of Iraq's airspace remains a US responsibility and as yet the Baghdad MoD has not developed any plans to procure its own combat aircraft.
Iraq's navy currently has just over 1,800 sailors and marines, organised into patrol and assault boat squadrons and two marine battalions. They are primarily focused on defending the country's small coastline at the north of the Arabian Gulf and off-shore oil-export facilities, from its main base at Umm Qasr.
It operates five small Patrol Boats and ten Fast Assault Boats (FABs) which patrol its territorial waters and make a significant contribution to the Coalition force effort protecting the oil infrastructure. Two offshore support vessels are due to be delivered in October 2009, four patrol ships are to handed over in June 2009, three patrol boats are on order for delivery from April 2009 and 36 fast interdiction craft will commence coming on line in early 2009

Security Transition

Initially tactical control of all Iraqi security forces rested with US and coalition forces, but a process of gradual transfer of responsibility for specific regions or sections of the 'battlespace' from coalition to Iraq control has gathered pace over the last year.
The process involves four stages. The first is 'partnership' at a tactical level: US-led coalition forces are responsible for security within their designated battlespace. The next stage is giving Iraqi Army units the lead in particular regions, but still under overall coalition command. Iraqis will then take control of security on a province-wide basis and finally, Iraq will gain security self-reliance on a national basis. This process is at the heart of the US and UK governments' 'exit strategy' for Iraq and it aims to eventually allow the withdrawal of their combat forces from the country.
By May 2008, US commanders said Iraqi troops had taken the lead in nine of Iraq's 18 provinces and by the end of the summer a further two would be transferred to Baghdad's control.

New Dawn?

The Pentagon showed its confidence in the new Iraqi military in July 2008 when it announced a military equipment package for Baghdad worth $10.8 billion. The package included 140 M1A1 Abrams main battle tanks, 24 AH-6 helicopter gunships, $1.6 billion on new bases, 400 light armoured vehicles, 160 security vehicles and six C-130J Hercules transport aircraft.
This signalled that the US military believed the Iraqis could operate hi-tech military hardware of a similar standard to that used by US forces. The fact that the Iraqi government is contemplating spending such an amount on new US hardware, also indicates that it wishes to remain a long term ally of the US and be closely allied with Washington for many years to come.
Although this new arms package has much utility in counter-insurgency, many elements of it suggest that the Iraqi government is looking to build up its military capability to deter external threats. Up to know US-led forces had secured the country's external borders. The potential order for Abrams tanks clearly indicates that Baghdad wants to be a regional military player again. The next step on this route will be purchase of fighter aircraft to defend Iraq's air space.
The decision to rapidly expand Iraqi military modernisation is linked closely with the status of forces agreement talks and that will allow Baghdad to return to being ‘a normal' country that does not rely on foreign forces to preserve its territorial integrity. For the Iraqi armed forces, this will transform them from being an auxiliary force of the occupying US military into the armed forces of ‘normal' country.
Whether the Iraqi military has the human resources and expertise to operate this new sophisticated equipment remains to be seen. Its recent combat success has been a major boost to its morale and self confidence. US and British forces provided much needed support to Operation Charge of the Knights and strong training and mentoring teams are expected to be asked to remain in Iraq by the Baghdad government after the bulk of coalition combat troops pull out at the turn of the decade.
Iraq's armed forces have been transformed over the past five years and played a considerable part in the success of the ‘surge' over the past year. The Iraqi military has a proud history as one of the oldest armed forces in the Arab world. It re-emergence in new Iraq has been a major element in the success of the government of Prime Minister Al-Maliki. The Iraqi army also has a long tradition of launching military coups and it remains to be seen if it has lost this bad habit.