The Logistics of Keeping Iraq On A Leash

The Iraqi government is shopping (hat tip, Fester). The U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency has notified Congress of a possible $750 million sale to Iraq of helicopters, vehicles, weapons and support as well as associated equipment and services.

The Government of Iraq has requested a possible sale of the following weapons:
10,126 M17 9mm Glock Pistols
50,750 M16A2 Rifles
50,750 M4A1 Rifles
3,442 M24 Sniper Rifles
8,105 M249 Machine Guns
3,037 M240B Machine Guns
1,268 Generation (Gen) II Single Tube Night Vision Goggles
15 AN/PVS-17 Gen III Assault Weapon Sights
40 AN/PVS-10 Gen II Sniper Weapon Sights
20 Mi-17 Troop Transport Helicopters
600 Infantry Light Armored Vehicles Armored Personnel Carriers
2,126,250 9mm Pistol Ammunition
35,437,500 5.56mm Rifle Ammunition
633,328 7.62mm Sniper Rifle Ammunition
1,621,000 5.56mm Machine Gun Ammunition
1,214,800 M240 7.62mm Crew Served Machine Gun Ammunition
9,562 Hand Held Pyrotechnics and
8,670 Hand Held Smoke Munitions.

Also included: logistics support services/equipment for helicopters (Jet Ranger, Huey II and Mi-17) and vehicles (Standard/Non-Standard Wheeled Vehicles, Tracked Vehicles, Infantry Light Armored Vehicles Armored Personnel Carriers) and small/medium weapons and weapon systems, on-job-training, laser pointers, supply and maintenance support, measuring and hand tools for ground systems, technical support, software upgrades, spare and repair parts, support equipment, publications and documentation, personnel training and training equipment, U.S. Government and contractor engineering and logistics support services, and other related elements of logistics support.

The equipment itself will cost $500 million with the support services costing another $250 million if all options are bought, according to Reuters. That totals up to three quarters of the annual Iraqi defense procurement budget and they are already behind the eight-ball because last year various scams stole the equivalent of the whole annual amount of $1 billion.

The Iraqi government had a big decision to make - to try to take on much of its own logistic requirements (such as refuelling, resupply and vehicle repairs), or to continue to outsource such needs. Just a few weeks ago, when command of the Iraqi military was handed over to the Iraqi government, at least on paper, that decision had still to be made. Now it has, and it looks like the U.S. government is pretty sure that U.S. private contractors will get the job.

It is doubtful that the Iraqis could have taken over these functions on their own without seeing a significant degredation in combat prowess - there are as yet too few maintenance and supply types in the Army. Where a modern Western army will have perhaps 1 in 3 soldiers devoted to logistics functions the Iraqi military only manages a bare one in 10.

As to the equipment itself - there's still no buying of tanks, artillery or a warplane with an actual gun or missile on it. For the forseeable future, the Iraqi military will rely on its occupiers for heavy firepower on land, sea or in the air. There's simply no money for such purchases anywhere in the crysatal ball and the occupiers have been very careful to leave any such materiel off their military aid budgets.

The price is that the Iraqi military will still be beholden to foreigners for all these functions - and that will continue to make the Iraqi government look like puppets of their occupiers in many eyes.