[Pilots from Saddam’s time form the backbone of efforts to create a new air fleet]
That speaks volume’s why Iraqi leadership is a joke.
All Iraqi officers above the rank of Major are former members of old Iraqi Armed Forces.
Vetted and authorized by the GoI, about 1/5th are allowed back in, the rest are pensioned off.
To build a military without them would take two decades or more and we would be commanding everything above battalion level still.
Less than four years into building a new force and, yes, leadership is a weak point...