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July 11, 2005
The Increasing Effectiveness Of The Iraqi Army
Bill Roggio at The Fourth Rail recently posted a comprehensive (as usual) analysis of the recent offensive operations by Coalition forces in Western Iraq. Operation Sword, which focused on the city of Hit, west of Fallujah, and the more recent Operation Scimitar concentrated southeast of Fallujah, are battalion-sized exercises that incorporate Iraqi army forces (all emphases are mine):
The Coalition retains the ability to conduct multiple battalion sized operations indefinitely indicating a reserve forces is being built. This strength is likely attributed to the rise of the Iraqi Army, which is increasing its capability to operate in hostile locations. ...
One notable indication of this increasing strength is that after Operation Sword concluded, a garrison of Iraqi troops was stationed in the city. There are now substantial detachments of Iraqi Security Force (ISF) troops in Hit, Ramadi, Habbaniyah and Fallujah.
A measure of the importance of the increasing effectiveness of the ISF is Zarqawi's reaction, who has pronounced that Iraqi forces are as great an enemy as the Coalition forces. As Bill notes, the critical question to follow in the coming months is whether the domestic Iraqi insurgents will follow Zarqawi's edict and attack their countrymen in the ISF, who will be appearing in ever-increasing numbers.
And a reason for those increasing numbers might be given by a commenter to Bill's post:
The pace of offensive operations has increased dramatically in the last few months. The reason being that thousands of US troops have been relieved of garrison duty around Baghdad by IA forces, as well as additional IA forces coming to battle themselves. That is remarkably important news, and the pace will continue to increase as more and more Iraqi forces come online.
It certainly is important news. To my civilian eye, it allows a maximising of effectiveness of both Iraqi and Coalition forces: the Iraqis are ideally suited for garrison duty because they are, of course, native to the nuances of the culture, and there is no question of "exit strategies"; and it also frees the Coalition forces to practice their lethal efficiency at dispatching jihadists in combat operations.
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