Center for a New American Security

Abu Muqawama's Iraq correspondent, Devil Dawg, weighs in on our host nation partners in Iraq:

Much has been made in recent weeks of the need for a reliable and credible host nation government in order for counterinsurgency operations to have a chance of success.  Afghanistan is no doubt the first thought through your head as you read that sentence.  The disconcerting election results and history of less than credible governance by the Karzai administration combined with what I'll politely call the laser-like focus Washington policymakers currently have on the country and their umpteenth policy review are the most likely reasons that Iraq did not immediately come to mind. 
 
I saw something yesterday, however, that makes me question if Iraq is indeed that partner we so desperately need in order to leave this country with at least some modicum of success.
 
We accompanied the division G-9--civil affairs--out on a humanitarian operation to distribute some food downtown.  Contrary to MiTT doctrine, at least USMC MiTT doctrine, we have not accompanied the division on these missions before because we wanted to keep as much of an Iraqi face on the operation as possible; however, this became impossible a couple of weeks ago when a subordinate brigade G-2 was caught loading food sacks into his personal vehicle.  Something about US taxpayer dollars funding an IA brigade G-2's personal food racket didn't sit well with our higher.  Not only can the IA brigades no longer conduct their own humanitarian operations, MiTT personnel now have to accompany the division when it does.
 
So, yesterday we went.
 
Things went really well, at least by Iraqi standards, until we got to the second of two locations.  Now, the reason we moved in the first place was a result of the IA's outer cordon breaking down completely, allowing the masses to start taking food at the cyclic rate.  Several AK-47 rounds into the air did little to dissuade them.  The jundee conducting the operation used the confusion created by moving locations to fill up their Humvees with the very items they were supposed to be handing out.  Our G-9 advisor brought it to the attention of Col Mohammed, who, to his credit, took action.  No words were necessary; the looks on the faces of the men, women, and children as the Humvees were opened and the items intended for them literally spilled out into the street said it all.  The very people who ten minutes earlier were all smiles, grateful to the IA and Marines for their food and cooking stoves, pelted the turret gunners--myself included--with rocks as we pulled away.
 
Way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory guys... and get my ass pelted with rocks.
 
You can draw your own conclusions about the Iraqi government and their credibility as a partner in our counterinsurgency operations here.  After all, this is just one lieutenant's observation and if you believe CSM Philip Johndrow's father, as told in Ralph Peter's interview with the battle hardened CSM in yesterday's New York Post, the lieutenant is the most dangerous person on the battlefield.  I don't think he meant that in a good way.  Luckily, as a Marine lieutenant, that dictum doesn't apply to me.  The bottom line is that if the actions here on the ground are any indication of what occurs in Baghdad, then, and I'm no expert, we could be in trouble here, same as we are in Afghanistan.