Iraqi troops still need US mentors

The NY Times reports on the current status of Iraqi forces:

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The security forces are not on the verge of collapse. American officers who work closely with Iraqi forces emphasize the progress that has been made from the days when Iraqi security forces barely functioned, and point to a rising professionalism. Nor are rogue units routinely carrying out sectarian killings, as they were a couple of years ago.

But a recent series of attacks by insurgents have highlighted shortcomings, large and small, despite billions of dollars in American training and equipment, the officials said.

In one small, but telling example, an American project to train Iraq’s Army to maintain its fleet of armored Humvees has stalled because soldiers simply stopped attending a 90-day training course after not being paid, according to a report by the special inspector general for Iraqi reconstruction.

The attacks have intensified concerns — and political anger here — that Iraq’s Army and police are not yet ready to provide adequate security as President Obama’s gradual withdrawal of American troops is set to begin. “There are holes — no one can deny it,” Ali al-Adeeb, a senior leader in Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki’s Dawa Party, said in an interview in which he blamed political meddling in the forces, a lack of government oversight and infiltration by extremists.

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The Iraqi government and the Obama administration have been rushing these guys into responsibility for the war against the insurgents. They have come a long way, but it would be prudent to allow US forces to continue to mentor them for some time to come. We could lose a lot of the ground we have won if we move too fast in leaving the war to them.