Quote Originally Posted by JMA View Post
I am still unable to understand... to comprehend how the Iraqi army has and continues to collapse. Surely there are those who worked with and/or trained these Iraqis who have an explanation for this... and whether this pattern will follow in Afghanistan?
JMA---this article from Tom Ricks over on FP gives some explanations----basically the Iraqi Army became an employment agency for the Shia at 700 USD per month which by any standards in Iraq is a solid salary, the corruption was rampart and the maintenance side was poor to begin with.

http://ricks.foreignpolicy.com/posts..._that_he_ouste

Malaki created a military in the end that did not nor could not threaten his position via a coup and many Shia commanders took their orders directly from him in direct violation of the Iraqi Constitution. Just as he had the US trained Iraqi SF units answering directly to him---he used both the Army and the Iraqi SF as weapons to beat down the Sunni population.

The same Constitution that now Malaki says will not allow him to form a "unity government".