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LIG OCO Operation Inherent Resolve, Report to the United States Congress

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LEAD INSPECTOR GENERAL FOR OVERSEAS CONTINGENCY OPERATIONS OPERATION INHERENT RESOLVE REPORT TO THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS JULY 1, 2016‒SEPTEMBER 30, 2016 LEAD INSPECTOR GENERAL MISSION The Lead Inspector General for Overseas Contingency Operations will coordinate among the Inspectors General specified under the law to: • develop a joint strategic plan to conduct comprehensive oversight over all aspects of the contingency operation • ensure independent and effective oversight of all programs and operations of the Federal government in support of the contingency operation through either joint or individual audits, inspections, and investigations • promote economy, efficiency, and effectiveness and prevent, detect, and deter fraud, waste, and abuse • perform analyses to ascertain the accuracy of information provided by Federal agencies relating to obligations and expenditures, costs of programs and projects, accountability of funds, and the award and execution of major contracts, grants, and agreements • report quarterly and biannually to the Congress and the public on the contingency operation and activities of the Lead Inspector General (Pursuant to sections 2, 4, and 8L of the Inspector General Act of 1978, as amended) FOREWORD We are pleased to submit the Lead Inspector General (Lead IG) quarterly report to the United States Congress on Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR). This is our seventh quarterly report on the overseas contingency operation (OCO), discharging our individual and collective agency oversight responsibilities pursuant to sections 2, 4, and 8L of the Inspector General Act of 1978, as amended. OIR is dedicated to countering the terrorist threat posed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Iraq, Syria, the region, and the broader international community. The U.S. to counter ISIL strategy includes support to military operations associated with OIR, as well as diplomacy, governance, security programs and activities, and, separately, humanitarian assistance. This report provides information on key events involving OIR as well as an update on the nine Strategic Lines of Effort to Counter ISIL, for the fourth quarter of FY 2016 ending September 30, 2016. This report also discusses oversight work conducted by the Lead IG Offices of Inspector General and partner oversight agencies, as well as ongoing and future oversight work. We remain committed to providing effective oversight and timely reporting on OIR to the United States Congress, U.S. government agencies, and U.S. taxpayers. Our collective oversight work, and its summation in this report, demonstrates our collaborative approach to providing effective oversight regarding the OIR contingency operation. /s/ /s/ /s/ Glenn A. Fine Steve A. Linick Ann Calvaresi Barr Acting Inspector General Inspector General Inspector General U.S. Department of Defense U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Broadcasting Board of Governors Development On the cover: (clockwise from top left) An F/A-18C Hornet assigned to the Wildcats of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 131 prepares to launch from the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (U.S. Navy photo); An Iraqi soldier with the 34th Armored Brigade provides security during personal security detail training at Camp Taji, Iraq, July 26, 2016 (U.S. Army photo); U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry attends the Council Session on Syria sponsored by New Zealand, at the UN Headquarters, in New York City, New York on September 21, 2016 (DoS photo); A U.S. Army soldier provides security during a base defense drill at Camp Taji, Iraq, July 23 2016 (U.S. Army photo); Baharka IDP Camp, Irbil Governorate, Iraq (UNAMI photo). MESSAGE FROM THE LEAD INSPECTOR GENERAL I am pleased to present to the United States Congress the seventh report on Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR) and the U.S. strategy to counter the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). This report summarizes the quarter’s key events, and describes completed, ongoing, and planned Lead Inspector General (Lead IG) and partner agency oversight work relating to this activity. This report discusses in detail the conditions faced by U.S.-backed forces as they prepared for the fight to liberate Mosul, ISIL’s last stronghold in Iraq. These forces seized key territory from ISIL in Iraq and Syria and continued to degrade ISIL’s military and financial resources. Despite this progress, terror attacks continued to be launched in Iraq, Syria, and throughout the world, Glenn A. Fine with ISIL or its followers claiming credit or assigned responsibility. This quarter, the Lead IG agencies and oversight partners continued their oversight of OIR operations, releasing 18 reports and engaging in 57 ongoing or planned oversight projects. There were 55 ongoing OIR-related investigations, with 75 percent of them involving possible procurement or program fraud. These completed oversight activities included a DoD Office of Inspector General (OIG) audit in September that determined the Army lacked effective controls for processing and transferring Iraq Train and Equip Fund equipment to the Iraqi government. In response, the 1st Theater Sustainment Command immediately set up a centralized tracking system and began work on a long-term solution. In addition, DoD OIG reviews at four military facilities identified significant deficiencies in electrical and fire protection systems as well as construction and maintenance concerns that, without attention, could affect the health, safety, and well-being of the warfighters. A Department of State OIG inspection of the U.S. mission to Turkey, which is a critical partner in OIR, found in part that delays in the process for vetting personnel and recipients of a program delivering non-humanitarian aid to Syria impeded the delivery of high-priority assistance in Syria. In July, Inspector General Ann Calvaresi Barr of the United States Agency for International Development testified before Congress on her agency’s findings from an ongoing USAID OIG investigation into U.S. humanitarian assistance to Syria. At that time, USAID already had taken actions that included the debarment or suspension of vendors and individuals, and partial program suspensions with awards valued at over $305 million. My Lead IG colleagues and I remain committed to our mission of conducting timely and effective oversight of OIR. We especially thank the oversight and investigative teams from across the IG community and our partner agencies for their work. /s/ Glenn A. Fine Lead Inspector General for Operation Inherent Resolve Acting Inspector General U.S. Department of Defense Peshmerga soldiers acquire targets by using the scopes on their M14 Enhanced Battle Rifle during the sniper portion of a combined arms training exercise near Irbil, Iraq, July 26, 2016. (U.S. Army photo) CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1 OPERATION INHERENT RESOLVE 13 Interview with Brett McGurk 15 DoD Status of Funds 20 Coalition Efforts to Defeat ISIL 26 The Status of ISIL 42 Governance in Iraq 47 Stabilization in Iraq 49 SYRIAN CIVIL WAR 55 Cessation of Hostilities and Peace Process 56 HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE 63 Iraqi Crisis 67 Syrian Crisis 78 COMPLETED OVERSIGHT ACTIVITY 91 Lead IG Staffing 92 Outreach 93 Completed Audit, Inspection, and Evaluation Projects 93 Investigations 106 Hotline Activity 108 ONGOING AND PLANNED OVERSIGHT ACTIVITIES 111 Strategic Planning 112 Ongoing Projects 115 Planned Projects 120 APPENDIXES 125 Acronyms and Definitions 135 Endnotes 136 JULY 1, 2016‒ SEPTEMBER 30, 2016 • REPORT TO THE U.S. CONGRESS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This report is issued pursuant to sections 2, 4, and 8L of the Inspector General Act of 1978, as amended, which requires that the designated Lead IG provide a quarterly report, available to the public, on a contingency operation. The Department of Defense (DoD) Inspector General is the designated Lead Inspector General for Operation Inherent Resolve. The Department of State (DoS) is the Associate Lead Inspector General for the operation. This report contains information from the three Lead IG agencies—DoD, DoS, and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)—as well as from partner oversight agencies. This unclassified report covers the period from July 1 through September 30, 2016. The U.S.-led Global Coalition to Counter the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) was focused on liberating the Iraqi city of Mosul from ISIL as FY 2016 ended on September 30. Liberating Mosul would be the most significant military achievement of the 25-month Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR). The city, the second-largest in Iraq with over a million residents, was the first taken by ISIL in Iraq in the summer of 2014, and it is now its last major stronghold in Iraq.1 The Coalition has identified taking back Mosul and Raqqa, ISIL’s self-declared capitol in Syria, as key goals in defeating ISIL and eliminating its claim to a territorial state—or “caliphate”—in Iraq and Syria, which has been an important part of its appeal to jihadists.2 Mosul is “a very Brett McGurk, Special Presidential Envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter unpredictable, ISIL, summarized in late September the urgency of the fight to liberate Mosul: “We need to focus on why this has to be done. There’s over a million people very dynamic, in Mosul living under the boot of Daesh [the Arabic acronym for ISIL]. We think most of the Yezidi slaves who were taken by Daesh almost 2 years ago, a vast very uncertain majority of them are in Mosul. They are executing people in the streets. operation.” We are having increasing reports of Daesh terrorist fighters who are actually shooting themselves in the leg or in the arm to try to get out of the fight. —Special Presidential So there are signs that Daesh’s morale is plummeting quite rapidly. But there Envoy Brett McGurk is a humanitarian imperative to get Daesh out of Mosul as soon as we can, and we think we are rapidly approaching that day.”3 JULY 1, 2016‒SEPTEMBER 30, 2016 • REPORT TO THE U.S.
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