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| Volume XVI, Fall 2009, Number 3 |
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EXCERPT
The Iraqi Military Re-enters the Gulf Security Dynamic
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| Eric V. Thompson |
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Dr. Thompson is director of the International Affairs Group at the Center for Naval Analyses (CNA).
In May 2003, the head of the Coalition
Provisional Authority in Iraq, L. Paul
Bremer III, announced the formal
dissolution of the Iraqi Republican
Army. While Bremer has been widely
criticized for this decision — and blamed
for the breakdown of security in Iraq that
followed — this fateful act created a veritable
clean slate for the development of a
truly new Iraqi military.
With the end of the formal occupation of
Iraq and the dissolution of the Coalition Provisional
Authority in June 2004, the coalition
began a sustained effort to build new national
security forces to help restore the security,
sovereignty and independence of Iraq. Following
the December 2008 expiration of UN
Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1790,
authorizing coalition forces to operate in
Iraq, the Iraqi government formally took over
responsibility for the development, training
and employment of Iraqi forces. While the
United States has committed to continuing
to support the development of Iraqi security
forces, the Iraqis now have the lead in the
development of their military capabilities.
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s government
has a plan for the development of
this new Iraqi military. The plan is broken
into two stages. The first covers the period
from 2006 to 2011 and focuses on building
a force capable of defeating the insurgency
and bringing security to Iraq. The second
stage covers the further development and
expansion of the Iraqi military to defend
the sovereignty of Iraq from prospective
outside intervention in the 2011-15 timeframe.
The Iraqi plan is ambitious and it is
far from clear whether the government in
Baghdad will be able to bring it to fruition.
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