Iraqi security forces soldiers perform weapon formalization prior to conducting a live fire exercise at the Besmaya Range Complex, Iraq, (Spc. Eric Cerami/Army)
Todd South, Military Times: Why a self-reliant Iraqi military may take ‘years, if not decades’ and could require a ‘generation’ to reform
Despite reports that the Islamic State terrorist group has lost 99 percent of its territory and shifted to insurgent tactics in Iraq and Syria, a recent report said an enduring defeat of the organization could take “years, if not decades.”
This, according to Department of Defense information provided to investigators with the DoD Inspector General, is in large part due to what is still needed to make Iraqi security forces “self-reliant.”
“Systemic weaknesses remain, many of which are the same deficiencies that enabled the rise of ISIS in 2014,” according to the quarterly IG report on Operation Inherent Resolve, the counter-ISIS operation that spans Iraq and Syria.
Read more ....
WNU Editor: Bottom line .... Iraq's low-level war against the Islamic State will continue for years until the Iraqi military has reformed itself, and the resources coupled with the political commitment from the Iraqi government has been committed.
