November 23, 2007: While the
five additional U.S. combat brigades sent to Iraq earlier in the year, for the
"surge offensive," got lots of publicity, hardly anyone heard of the even more
numerous Iraqi forces that entered the battle this year. In 2007, the Iraqi
army added six more combat brigades, and the capabilities of their 44 brigades
increased considerably. The police added 45,000 cops this year, for a total of
over 150,000.
Police and army commando and
SWAT units became more effective, and conducted several very impressive
operations without any U.S. assistance. Iraq commanders, and their staffs,
became more effective and reliable. American troops were often glad to work
with those Iraqi army and police units that had a good reputation, and there
were more of those to go around.
By world standards, the Iraqi
army is still a pretty ramshackle force. Only three of the 44 brigades can
carry out operations all by themselves, and that status of those three can
decline very quickly if some of their best officers are removed. There is still
a shortage of experienced and reliable senior officers. The NCO corps grows
better month by month, but in many brigades, the overall quality of NCOs is
low.
The police are still very
corrupt. Again, a lot depends on the quality of the senior commanders. Fixing
shortages there will take years.
