What Iraq needs more then anything else is for the Pentagon to get its head out of its butt and really start equipping the Iraqi Army and police. The Madhi Army is better equipped then the Iraqi Army today. Just a small part of it… First and foremost there has to be a resemblance of security for the Iraqi people to build off of. Second, the Iraq forces must be trained before arming – otherwise you are just arming the insurgents / terrorists.
We could have done this right – but we let the “golden hour” (the vacuum created by regime change in 2003) escape us. Whenever a vacuum in these types of operations is created someone will fill it. Unfortunately we were not prepared or willing to fill that vacuum.
Sorry, but I am completely sick of excuses when good Iraqi soldiers and police aren't getting paid, are being forced to share AK 47s, and are riding around in pickups. While the Madhi Army gets three times the money and much better weapons from Iran.
Police in Anbar province lack protection, pay
Shaaban al-Obeidi, a police chief in a small town in western Iraq, is regularly the target of assassination attempts.
On one recent attack, he was shot in the chest and left for dead. But al-Obeidi refuses to give up his job as police chief of Baghdadi, a Euphrates River valley town about 100 miles northwest of Baghdad.
"We will sacrifice our lives for our country," al-Obeidi says.
During a recent tour of towns in Anbar, the challenges were evident: police officers complained of being outgunned by insurgents and often going unpaid.
http://www.wzzm13.com/news/local/grmetro_article.aspx?storyid=65162 In his crowded office, Qaim Mayor Fahran Fahran complains that he receives no support from the national government. He needs fuel, equipment and salaries for his police force.
http://www.wzzm13.com/news/local/grmetro_article.aspx?storyid=65162