Posted on Jun 4, 2015
CW4 Brigade Maintenance Technician
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Col Joseph Lenertz
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This is important stuff, so please forgive the diatribe.
What gives US soldiers the will to fight for their country? Lots of things, including the internal belief in the goodness and rightness of America and the constitution and the close relationships and team camaraderie with their crew or squad. How we grow up in the US, believing everyone is equal, helps us make those close linkages within our squads and crews, regardless of what tribe or religious sect or skin color the squad members might be. And even in America, there are dysfunctional units and racist or biased members that prevent the close cohesion needed, so it can be hard to get over those "tribes", even in the US. The Iraqi people didn't grow up like us, and I fear no amount of training will overcome the fundamental internal tribal/ethnic/sect identity they have of themselves. Ask them who they are, and they will more likely identify as "Sunni" than "Iraqi". This is why American fighting forces are so strong...we identify as American above all and can form close bonds with our brothers and sisters in arms based on that identity.
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CW4 Brigade Maintenance Technician
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Great repsonse Sir, very thought provoking.
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SGT Legal Liability
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No, they don't.

They don't identify themselves as Iraqis, and until THEY do, no amount of equipment or training will get them over that cultural hill.

Someone else wrote about leadership - that too is missing. Nouri al-Maliki and his fellow govt members had a chance to start building on IRAQ. Instead of demonstrating courage and fortitude, following an example laid down by Nelson Mandela, they chose the time-honored tradition of cultural tribal/religion rules all approach.
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1SG Civil Affairs Specialist
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Until the facts on the ground bear out something other than that a ragtag band of pirates routs them from city after city, it is difficult to assess any other way than they lack will.
Training would help.
Better leadership would help.
Better support would help.
But without those things, you would think that they would at least be even in a set-piece fight, with raw numbers heavily favoring the IA.
Clearly, the terror and psychological tactics of IS are causing the IA units to break and retreat.
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1SG Michael Blount
1SG Michael Blount
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1SG (Join to see) - having a decentralized CoC would likely help as well. Iraqi NCOs defer to officers nearly all the time, and no movement is executed unless or until approved or directed by some sort of higher. Of course, this means you end up with disasters like Mosul, Ramadi and that circus going on over at the Bayji Oil Refinery.
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