Posted on 09/07/2009 4:19:43 AM PDT by DJ Elliott
The Iraqi Government has a problem, a problem partially of their making. They do not have an air defense capability and the US is departing soon. It takes years to build a legitimate air defense capability and Iraq does not have the time.
Since 2006, the Iraqi Ministry of Defense has been briefing about a three phased series of five-year plans for Iraqi Security Force development. In May 2009, the Iraqi Minister of Defense stated that Phase 2 and Phase 3 will be delayed given current funding.
- Phase 1 (2006-2010): Tactical Independence. This means the ability for the Iraqi Security Forces to independently handle internal security.
- Phase 2 (2011-2015): Operational Independence. This is the ability of the Iraqi ground and naval forces to provide for external ground and naval defense.
- Phase 3 (2016-2020): Strategic Independence. This is the ability for the Iraqi Air force to provide air defense of Iraq. The most optimistic estimate from the Iraqi Ministry of Defense for Phase 3 completion was 2018 and that was when the Iraqi budget was considerably higher.
The Iraqi Government negotiated the agreement requiring the US Forces to depart Iraq by 2012, knowing that they would not have an air defense by then. They were counting on either an extension of US Forces in Iraq or that the political deals with adjacent countries would cover the gap in Iraqi air defense between 2012 and 2020.
The protests in Tehran provided the current Iraqi Government with a serious wake-up call concerning any arrangements with Iran. It does not matter what deal they may have with adjacent countries when they do not know if the deal will be honored or if the people they had the deal with will still be in power.
(Excerpt) Read more at home.comcast.net ...
Reality check…now let’s make some money having the U.S. run air cover, for all we have done for them…I am serious! At least we could have a training location away from the Eco-Freaks and get them up to speed at the same time; I know we could run the program efficiently. Plus, just think about selling them new/used F-16s and other stuff boy what a profit margin that would be or we could call it “Oil for Weapons Program” (OWP) without a bunch of whiners.
Interesting.
Minor detail: Five countries build 85 percent of the world’s combat aircraft.
They are: US, Russia, China, France, and UK.
The current Iraqi Ministry of Defense has plenty of experience losing while using “Russian Junk”. [their words]
Chinese equipment is mostly copies of Russian.
Iraq is already buying helos from US, France, and Russia.
Most of Iraq’s recent ground equipment purchases are from the US, M1A1s, Strykers, M4/M16s, etc...
I’m losing out on this discussion and defer to those who are more expert in this area...
Just curious, how do you keep up on all this stuff?
1. I am a retired USN Intelligence Speciallist, so I know where to look.
2. I am a speed reader, which allows me to sort through all the chaff.
3. I write on ISF developments, which requires extensive research.
and the answer is:
4. All of the above.
Wow...
Note: I am duly impressed.
thanks for sharing on Freep. You help all of us understand what we can to keep informed and rational. Thank you for your service.
It must be very frustrating for you to watch the “kids” of the 60’s throw temper tantrums about what they refuse to learn about. And to never realize there are very bad people out there.
thanks again for your sharing.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.