Oh yes, what a great Army that was. . .for our Army to use as target practice. No really, how the former Iraqi officers long for the days of a professional Army of tortures and rapists, dems were the good ole days.
On a serious note, disbanding the Iraqi Army was a mistake IMO, but even if it were kept in tact, getting rid of the hardcore Baathists within it would have been a bitch.
There is some truth to this statement - Many Operators on the ground were against this decision / plan - (yet higher-ups pushed it through).
With that said, it was obvious to all that a certain level of cleansing was surly needed within the ranks of the former Iraqi Army before allowing others to stay on the job.
This was a tough call from the start. But it was definitely made farther up the chain of command then it should have been (at least in absolute terms).
"They were fools to break up our great army and form an army of thieves and criminals," said one senior officer. "They are traitors," added another.
These comments are from the same army officers that cut off hands, murdered thousands, raped and tortured scores of Iraqis. Comments like this make me wish I was back in the game. I would have a special delivery for each and every one of these animals.
Take all of them out and shoot'em. Starting over would be more productive.
"Great army"? Which "great army" would that be? We kicked their a$$es and the remnants melted away.
Yeah we should really pay a lot of attention to Ex Bathists that helps Saddam fill all those mass graves.
This is a total crock the overwhelming majority of the soldiers were conscripted shia muslims who were forced into the military, they would simply lay down their weapons and surrender or leave the battlefield and go home. They had zero allegiance to Saddam and his army.
That left the officers who were sunni's who were nothing but yes men, because anything but being a yes man would get you executed. Officers seen as too powerful by Saddam were routinely rounded up and shot.......
Professional soldiers????
Yeah.....The old Iraqi army was incredibly corrupt. Bribes, mistreatment of the foot soldiers, incompetence, graft. It was disbanded because it was too corrupt to fix and the Iraqi people would have never trusted them.
If the old army had not disbanded, everyone would be talking about the lack of "legitimacy and credibility" with elements of the old regime around. Also, we would be constantly looking over our shoulders at the old sunni operators taking back control and the Shites undoubtably would be in the middle of their own insurgency against the government.
All this speculation is pointless. The old generals lost their jobs and are pissed, so what?