ARTICLE

October 2004

U.S. Moves to Rearm Iraq

by Joe Pappalardo

The U.S. government—following an extended delay—is aggressively moving to train and equip Iraqi security forces to provide for the internal and external defense of that war torn nation.

The U.S. government in Washington and on the ground in Iraq is distributing defense materials to the Iraqis and clearing the way for private sector-to-government sales. While the U.S. military giveaways are booming, sales are slowly building steam, said U.S. and Iraqi officials.

The lack of equipment is dire. Iraqi forces possess about 40 percent of the minimum quantities of weapons they need, less than one-third of the minimum number of vehicles, and roughly one-quarter of the necessary communications gear and body armor, according to data released by the Pentagon in June.

“You can’t overestimate the importance of having a properly equipped military force,” Iraqi Ambassador to the United States, Rend al-Rahim Francke, told National Defense. “We have suffered during the past year over a lack of equipment.”

The United States is instrumental in dictating the size and make-up of the future Iraqi security forces, but Al-Rahim insists Iraqis are setting overall goals.

“The strategy and structuring of our own forces is being driven by the Iraqi government,” Al-Rahim asserted. “We are relying on the United States and other countries in providing training.”

That training includes supplying the Iraqis with a flood of equipment to stand up their forces. Iraqi troops currently are receiving materiel as part of the congressional supplemental dedicated to readying Iraq for self-governance, with some additional funds for equipment provided by the Iraqis themselves, Al-Rahim said.

Iraqi police, border patrol, and other security forces started receiving shipments of military materiel in early August, the contents of which were subject to review by the State Department.

The Iraqi Ministry of Defense forces—the National Guard and Army troops—have received more than 2,500 vehicles, 600 radios, 55,000 weapons, and 25,000 pieces of body armor, including more than 8,000 small-arms protective insert plates, according to officials at the Multinational Security Transition Command-Iraq. Police and border units have received more than 6,800 vehicles, 100,000 weapons and 46,000 pieces of body armor.

The training and equipping should be mostly finished by June 2005, said U.S. military officials.

In July, the Iraqi military received the first two of 16 surveillance aircraft from Jordan, for use in border and infrastructure protection.

“The Iraqi Air Force not only represents a real military capability and the foundation of a modern air force, but also indicates the re-emergence of Iraq as an air-capable power with an ability to take its share of security responsibilities,” said Capt. Steven Alvarez, spokesman for the Multinational Security Transition Command-Iraq. “The Iraqi Air Force will work closely with ground, maritime and air units to accomplish its missions.”

He added that the Iraqi Air Force’s long-range tactical airlift capability will be initially supported by two C-130B Hercules transport aircraft. A squadron of six UH-1H Iroquois helicopters eventually will be operational at Taji Air Base. “This fleet will increase to 16 Iroquois by April of 2005,” Alvarez said. “They will support military and paramilitary operations.”

A squadron of Seeker light reconnaissance aircraft will be operational late this summer, with four aircraft at Basra and expanding later, possibly to Kirkuk. This fleet will be tasked with infrastructure and border security duties.

The entity within the U.S. embassy that manages the expenditure of the $18 billion in assistance is called the project and contracting organization (PSO), which issues contracts on behalf of Iraqi government agencies. For example, in late July the PSO awarded a $50 million contract to Textron Marine and Land Inc. on behalf of the Iraqi Minister of Interior to manufacture 43 armored security vehicles for the Iraqi civil intervention force.

The first deliveries are expected to take place by November of this year and continue through July 2005, said officials. The contract is a windfall for the New Orleans-based company. Based on the award, production increased from one vehicle a week to four.

“Generally speaking, the Iraqi government has had a great desire to see this process speeded up,” Al-Rahim said. “We certainly wish it happened at a faster pace. We’re very glad it’s happening now.”

Critics said the dissolution of the military and subsequent delays in equipping the Iraqis hampered the progress in creating an autonomous Iraqi security force.

“The U.S. Congress must accept a substantial amount of blame for failing to ease procedures for time-critical aid expenditures, but the primary blame lies with the Executive Branch,” wrote Anthony Cordesman in a July report for the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “The United States failed to treat the Iraqis as partners in the counterinsurgency for nearly a year and did not attempt to seriously train and equip Iraqi forces … until April 2004 — nearly a year after the fall of Saddam Hussein.”

U.S. officials in Baghdad say the Iraqis eventually plan to have 27 army battalions. Equipping them in the future required an official change in Washington of Iraq’s pariah status.

In late July, President George W. Bush signed an executive order clearing the way to resume arms sales to the Iraqi government, but so far the newly sovereign nation has yet to become a magnet for international sales — especially with the recent influx of modern U.S. arms through the PSO.

Iraq now is eligible to receive defense articles pursuant to the Foreign Assistance Act and the Arms Export Control Act. “I hereby find that the furnishing of defense articles and services to Iraq will strengthen the security of the United States and promote world peace,” the executive order states.

By signing the order, Bush has sanctioned private and governmental sales of defense items to Iraq as long as those sales are cleared by the State Department, explained Jay Greer, spokesman for the office of political-military affairs.

The original ban was imposed by presidential order after Saddam Hussein’s regime was placed under United Nations trade embargo. After the Coalition Provisional Authority was disbanded for an interim Iraqi government, the ban needed to be rescinded since Iraq was again sovereign.

“The executive order was very important as an enabling factor. I see it as an important step for Iraqis taking control of our own destinies,” Al-Rahim said.

The move did not attract immediate attention among the defense industry because of the unstable political situation and the ability to secure contracts for Iraq through the United States. Al-Rahim said that the bulk of initial reequipping would come from U.S. coffers.

“The question is when will the Iraqi government contract with private companies directly. My sense is that most of this is going to be done from the [congressional] supplement,” Al-Rahim said.

Jim Burrows, a vice president of Burdeshaw and Associates, a consulting firm, traveled through Iraq several times to gauge business opportunities for the company’s clients. He said the executive order opening defense sales to Iraq has not set off a flurry of representatives to the country, but interest from defense companies was fixed on the future.

“There’s planning going on, but precious little more,” he said. “These companies regard Iraq as strategic activity. They’ll work the patch to see what customers might require in, say, 2006.”

The political and security situation in Iraq is in flux, making any firm decisions difficult, Burrows noted. Still, no company wants to be caught without international connections and corporate intelligence to guide its longer-term decisions.

One main problem in future sales is deciding who will have the political authority to plan Iraq’s defense establishment and authorize sales to make it a reality. Said Burrows: “It’s typical marketing: who’s the customer, and what does he want?”

Other priorities, such as its energy and industrial infrastructure, are pressing concerns, he noted. However, without security from internal and external threats, true sovereignty will remain out of reach.

Burrows inquired into what items the Iraqi government might be interested in, but the evolving U.S. policy still governs the answers. “When you ask an Iraqi that question you get a question back, asking what will be made available,” Burrows said. “At the end of the day, the U.S. government will have to decide what equipment is going to be brought home. Maybe there’ll be a retrofit market there. All these things will come into play.”

As the situation in Iraq changed and troops squared off against insurgents, some weapons systems became hotly requested, but “whatever bump we had from having forces in the field has already happened,” Burrows explained.

U.S. firms appear to be taking a wait-and-see approach to dealing with future defense deals with Iraq.

“The U.S. government holds responsibility to determine exactly what products, services and technology are appropriate for transfer to Iraq under the foreign military sales program,” said Lockheed Martin spokesman Tom Greer. He said the company is not actively marketing any products in Iraq, but stands ready once asked.

Arms sales to Iraq will proceed in the same manner as deals with any other nation. Any equipment that is considered militarily significant is placed on the U.S. munitions list, and any item on that list must be specifically cleared with an export license by the State Department before the government or a private sector entity can sell it overseas. The Department of Commerce issues licenses for equipment that could be considered dual military-civilian use.

The State Department approves sales on a case-by-case basis through its directorate of defense trade controls. The directorate often goes to the Defense Department, federal law enforcement or State Department country desks to get input on potential sales.

“The U.S. munitions list is not just guns, tanks and planes,” said Matt Schroeder, manager of the arms shipment program at the Federation of American Scientists. “You’ll probably see a wide variety of defense articles sold.”

Ensuring that this equipment in Iraq stays out of insurgent’s hands—given the murky loyalties and corruption of that nation’s police and armed forces—makes tight control of the sales necessary.

“It’s a huge dilemma,” Schroeder said. “I assume all the agencies [involved in review] will be very cautious about end use.”

For oversight reasons, notification of each arms sale of more than $14 million is reported to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, 30 days before a sale. For NATO countries the congressional notification is cut to 15 days. Politicians cannot stop sales, but must be kept informed. A committee spokesman said that, as of mid-August, there were no sales to Iraq of that magnitude reported.

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