Burke Chair in Strategy Shaping Iraq’s Security Forces US-Iranian Competition Series By Anthony H. Cordesman, Sam Khazai, and Daniel Dewit December 16, 2013 Request for comments: This report is a draft that will be turned into an electronic book. Comments and suggested changes would be greatly appreciated. Please send any comments to Anthony H. Cordsman, Arleigh A. Burke Chair in Strategy, at [email protected]. ANTHONY H. CORDESMAN Arleigh A. Burke Chair in Strategy [email protected] Shaping Iraqi Security Forces December 2013 1 Table of Contents SHAPING IRAQ’S SECURITY FORCES ............................................................................................... 3 Figure 1: Iraqi Security Forces as of October 10, 2011 ............................................................................................. 4 A Destabilizing Early US Departure ........................................................................................................................ 5 The Uncertain Development of Iraq’s Security Forces ............................................................................................ 7 Figure 2: Key Elements of Iraqi Security Forces in 2013 ........................................................................................... 9 Iraqi Dependence and the Failure to Create a Lasting US Presence ....................................................................... 10 The Uncertain Impact of Imposing a US Military Culture on Iraq ........................................................................... 11 A Focus that Did Not Provide Iraq With Effective Forces for External Defense ...................................................... 12 Reliance on a Limited US Office of Security Cooperation - Iraq (OSC-I).................................................................. 12 Figure 3: The Iran-Iraq Military Balance in 2003 and 2013 ..................................................................................... 14 The Uncertain Future of the US Effort .................................................................................................................... 15 Figure 4: Iraq Arms Sales Requests and Deliveries from the US: 2003-2013 .......................................................... 16 US Security Assistance to Iraq for FY2014 .............................................................................................................. 25 Figure 5: OCO Expenditures by Function/Category Breakout by Operation .......................................................... 26 Figure 6: Top Ten Recipients of State Department Foreign Operations Funds ...................................................... 27 The US Role in Shaping the Iraqi Security Forces .................................................................................................. 27 Iraqi Military Modernization and the US Role in Shaping the Iraqi Army ............................................................. 29 Modernization and Arms Sales ............................................................................................................................... 29 Iraqi Military Modernization and the US Role in Shaping the Iraqi Air Force........................................................ 30 Iraqi Military Modernization and the US Role in Shaping the Iraqi Navy .............................................................. 32 Military Training and Education ........................................................................................................................... 34 Cooperation in Counter Terrorism ....................................................................................................................... 35 The Iraqi Police and Security Forces .................................................................................................................... 36 Iraqi Federal Police Service (IFP) ............................................................................................................................. 36 Federal Intelligence and Investigative Agency (FIIA) .............................................................................................. 37 Iraqi Police Service .................................................................................................................................................. 37 Iraqi Correctional Service ........................................................................................................................................ 37 Border Guards ......................................................................................................................................................... 37 Iraqi Coast Guard .................................................................................................................................................... 38 General Commission for Customs........................................................................................................................... 38 Facilities Protection Service .................................................................................................................................... 38 Oil Police ................................................................................................................................................................. 38 Electrical Installation Police .................................................................................................................................... 39 Railway Police ......................................................................................................................................................... 39 Iraqi Intelligence Services ................................................................................................................................... 39 The Iraqi National Intelligence Service (INIS) .......................................................................................................... 39 Ministry of National Security (MoNS) ..................................................................................................................... 39 Office of Information and Security and Directorate General for Intelligence and Security (DGIS) ........................ 39 Shaping Iraqi Security Forces December 2013 2 Peshmerga Forces and Intelligence services of Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) ....................................... 40 Sunni Awakening Councils (Sons of Iraq - SOI) .................................................................................................... 40 US Role in Supporting the Iraqi Police Force and Ministry of Interior .................................................................... 41 Figure 7: Police Development Program Sites as of May 2012 ................................................................................ 42 The Maliki Visit of November 2013 ...................................................................................................................... 43 Options for US Policy ........................................................................................................................................... 44 Table of Figures Figure 1: Iraqi Security Forces as of October 10, 2011 ................................................................................................. 4 Figure 2: Key Elements of Iraqi Security Forces in 2013 .............................................................................................. 9 Figure 3: The Iran-Iraq Military Balance in 2003 and 2013 ........................................................................................ 14 Figure 4: Iraq Arms Sales Requests and Deliveries from the US: 2003-2013 ............................................................. 16 Figure 5: OCO Expenditures by Function/Category Breakout by Operation .............................................................. 26 Figure 6: Top Ten Recipients of State Department Foreign Operations Funds ........................................................... 27 Figure 7: Police Development Program Sites as of May 2012 .................................................................................... 42 Shaping Iraqi Security Forces December 2013 3 SHAPING IRAQ’S SECURITY FORCES The last active US combat forces left Iraq in August 2010, marking the end of Operation Iraqi Freedom and the beginning of Operation New Dawn.1 Some 49,000 advisory troops, four advisor assistance brigades, and a limited number of special operations forces (SOF) remained to train, advise, and assist Iraq’s security forces after that date, including the military, intelligence, and police.2 Until the end, these US troops continued to serve a number of other important security functions: carrying out kinetic operations against Iranian-backed and other militant groups; providing training to the ISF; taking part in joint patrols along the borders of the Kurdish provinces and helping integrate ISF and Kurdish forces; and acting as a deterrent to Iraq’s neighbors – in particular Iran.3 They left behind a mix of Iraqi security forces (ISF) with many strengths and many weaknesses. As Figure 1 shows, the Iraqi security forces or ISF had considerable manpower at the time US forces left, but they were an awkward mix of real military forces and police forces, were structured around internal security operations with very limited ability to defend against foreign threats, and were still very much in transition to a largely US-designed