LAT: U.S. Joins Old Foes to Build New Iraqi Army ("obstacles enormous")

U.S. Joins Old Foes to Build New Iraqi Army
By David Zucchino, Times Staff Writer


....Today, the top priority of U.S. commanders is training the Iraqi army and police to one day battle the country's insurgents on their own. As American officers frequently tell reporters, "Our job is to train ourselves out of a job."...

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The obstacles in Iraq are enormous. Hussein, paranoid about coups, kept his army units isolated and unable to communicate. U.S. trainers say Iraqi soldiers have little concept of officer accountability or a noncommissioned officer corps with effective authority and leadership. Many have refused orders to fight, and when they do fight, their fire is often undisciplined.

Both U.S. and Iraqi commanders are so concerned about ethnic rivalries that they refuse to provide ethnic breakdowns of the new army's makeup. Hussein's army was dominated by Sunni Muslims and was used to crush Shiite Muslim and Kurdish uprisings. The new army has more Shiites and Kurds than Sunnis, prompting the latter to fear they will be targeted for retribution.

Soldiers in some Iraqi units have stolen equipment, trainers say. Others have ruined equipment by not properly maintaining it. Many units have been infiltrated by insurgents, commanders say, despite rigorous attempts to screen and monitor recruits....

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....Iraqi soldiers routinely patrol with American units. Many wear hoods or masks because of assassination threats by insurgents. In recent months the insurgency has shifted its focus of attacks away from U.S. units to Iraqi army and police targets, particularly new recruits. Thousands have been killed or seriously wounded. Yet Iraqi commanders say recruits continue to pour in for jobs that pay excellent salaries by Iraqi standards: about $300 to $400 a month for enlisted men, $400 to $500 a month for officers....


http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/iraq/la-fg-iraqarmy21mar21,0,5661765.story?coll=la-home-headlines

Been there, done that, didn't work then either.