The security forces are not on the verge of collapse. American officers who work closely with Iraqi forces emphasize the progress that has been made from the days when Iraqi security forces barely functioned, and point to a rising professionalism. Nor are rogue units routinely carrying out sectarian killings, as they were a couple of years ago.

But a recent series of attacks by insurgents have highlighted shortcomings, large and small, despite billions of dollars in American training and equipment, the officials said.

In one small, but telling example, an American project to train Iraq’s Army to maintain its fleet of armored Humvees has stalled because soldiers simply stopped attending a 90-day training course after not being paid, according to a report by the special inspector general for Iraqi reconstruction.

The attacks have intensified concerns — and political anger here — that Iraq’s Army and police are not yet ready to provide adequate security as President Obama’s gradual withdrawal of American troops is set to begin. “There are holes — no one can deny it,” Ali al-Adeeb, a senior leader in Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki’s Dawa Party, said in an interview in which he blamed political meddling in the forces, a lack of government oversight and infiltration by extremists.

Iraq’s security forces have grown to 618,000 soldiers and officers, a 27 percent increase since 2007, and their expanding presence at checkpoints in Baghdad and across the country has coincided with the significant drop in violence since then.

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Source; Nytimes.com

About Fred Harteis: Fred Harteis leads Harteis International.   Fred Harteis has a background in agriculture and has created many successful business ventures.