Special to WorldTribune.com

WASHINGTON — The U.S. intelligence community has warned against rapid development of Iraq’s military and security forces.

The Defense Intelligence Agency assessed that the collapse of the Iraq Army and security forces would take years to overcome, Middle East Newsline reported. In an assessment submitted to Congress, DIA said Iraq continued to be set by massive corruption, ineffective command corps and poor morale.

“Defeats of Iraqi security forces and the collapse of multiple army divisions highlight large-scale institutional deficiencies within the ISF,” DIA said. “Several of the more concerning deficiencies include poor logistics and endemic corruption that has bred ineffective commanders and poor morale.”

In an assessment to the House Armed Services Committee on Feb. 3, DIA, a senior member of the 16-agency intelligence community, asserted that a multi-billion-dollar U.S. plan to rebuild the Iraqi security forces would be difficult.

The assessment cited the inability to recruit experienced soldiers, many of whom were said to have joined Islamic State of Iraq and Levant.

“Force generation efforts will be complicated by a lack of experienced and qualified soldiers,” DIA said.

“Local and tribal pro-government forces suffer from similar supply and manning shortages. The ISF remains unable to defend against external threats or sustain conventional military operations against internal challenges without foreign assistance.”

The assessment also criticized Baghdad’s defense procurement policy. DIA said the Iraqi military was being flooded with a range of Russian and U.S. combat platforms that could not operate together.

“Iraq is diversifying its defense acquisitions through numerous foreign military sales including with Russia and other non-U.S. suppliers to overcome equipment shortfalls and capability gaps, these decisions are reducing ISF interoperability,” DIA said.

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