The New Iraqi Army

In March 2003 the United States armed forces along with coalition forces proceeded with the utter destruction of Saddam's military forces and infrastructure. We took out top leadership in the regime, as well as all the military vehicles and tanks. People wonder why the Iraqi army hasn't taken all of the fight on need to remember a few little things. First we are building an army from nothing, no leadership, and very little equipment, along with tanks and armored personnel carriers or apc's. Building an entire army takes time and patience, especially as these men have to battle the insurgency at the same time. They are being attacked while standing in line waiting to sign up and fight for their new country. As of Oct 5 2005 there was 1 battalion, or 750 soldiers who where trained and equipped enough to operate independently. They have 230,00 personnel (2006 est.). They have 10 T-55 tanks, 77 T-72 tanks, 4 MT-LB apc's, and 180 M-113 apc's(2005 est.). They also have 80 battalions or 60,000 troops that can operate with such limited support such as logistics and strategic planning. Keep in mind that these troops are not equipped with the firepower the U.S. troops and coalition forces are. Many believe it is a bad idea to hand over weapons to troops who are being killed at larger numbers, for fear that the insurgents may recover them and use them against us. As long as these men stand and fight we as a country need to stand by them, they fight as we did for their countries freedom.