goesh:

As near as I can tell from the news media, there are some very effective Iraqi generals living outside of Iraq (Jordan, Syria, etc...), and the US was, in fact, in negotiation with them to stay for the transition (like keeping the AIG executives who knew where all the bodies were buried?). But, they left, so it's pretty hard to judge the real alternatives.

The Embargo years certainly had an effect on the military, as it did on the economy at large, shifting a lot of otherwise productive capabilities to black market activities, so, between Gulf Wars, were the best and brightest going into the military, or into the more profitable sector?

Hard to tell. But one thing that amazed me was how they kept any of it (the economy or the military running)---even as just a shell---for so long. The amazing thing, in studying the Iran-Iraq War is not the strategic or tactical brilliance, but the ability to muster so many fighters in such historically bloody battles. So I don't discount Iraqi ingenuity and potential, even if, at the last, the military used the Irish strategy (run away to fight another day).

Steve