....Our ongoing work has identified weaknesses in the $15.4 billion program to support the development and sustainment of Iraqi security forces. Sectarian divisions have eroded the dependability of many Iraqi units, and a number of Iraqi units have refused to serve outside the areas where they were recruited. Corruption and infiltration by militias and others loyal to parties other than the Iraqi government have resulted in the Iraqi security forces being part of the problem in many areas instead of the solution. While unit-level transition readiness assessments (TRA) provide important information on Iraqi security force capabilities, the aggregate reports DOD provides to Congress based on these assessments do not provide adequate information to judge the capabilities of Iraqi forces. The DOD reports do not detail the adequacy of Iraqi security forces’ manpower, equipment, logistical support, or training and may overstate the number of forces on duty. Congress will need additional information found in the TRAs to assess DOD’s supplemental request for funds to train and equip Iraqi security forces. GAO has made repeated attempts to obtain U.S. assessments of Iraqi forces without success. These data are essential for Congress to undertake an independent and informed assessment of Iraqi forces’ capabilities, funding needs, and results. Further, DOD and MNF-I may be unable to ensure that all of the equipment obtained for the Iraqis reached the intended recipients. It is also unclear what accountability measures DOD has applied to the train-and-equip program for Iraq....
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