Middle East Review of International Affairs

Volume 8, Number 3, September 2004

 

Iraq’s Unready Security Forces: An Interim Assessment
by Barak A. Salmoni ^*

 

Abstract

This article examines the emergence of the various Iraqi security forces that were created by the U.S.-led coalition since it deposed Saddam Hussein’s regime in 2003. Based in part on his own observations and interviews with those responsible for training these forces, the author discusses the challenges and dilemmas faced by coalition forces in their attempts to create local security forces that will be capable of enforcing order and ending the insurgency.

Full Text (PDF, 18 pages, 91.8 KB)

Note *: Assistant Professor, Department of National Security Affairs, Naval Postgraduate School. Barak Salmoni has worked with the U.S. Army’s 1st Infantry Division and the U.S. Marine Corps’ 1st Marine Division, in the United States, Germany, and Iraq. He would like to thank Maj. Seth Folsom (U.S.M.C.) and Maj. David Vacchi (U.S.A.) for their assistance in preparing this essay, which is dedicated to the memory of SSgt. Jorge Molina-Bautista, 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division. The views here are those of the author alone; they do not represent the attitudes of the Naval Postgraduate School, U.S. Department of Navy, or Department of Defense.Back