More Truth from Iraq

Bush has repeated his promise that we will leave as soon as Iraqis can defend themselves. On the cover this appears a reasonable and rational position to take. We have been in control of Iraq for over 2 years now. We have spent billions of dollars in developing the defense forces that Iraq will need to defend themselves. One could convince themselves that it is months, not years till we can depart.

Then we hear the truth, and not 'the truth' that the 'truth tour' is trying to promote, but real truth.

We have been working for over 24 months to develop a standing army, and viable police forces in Iraq. At this time we hear the Bush administration make claims of hundreds of thousands of troops now serving.

The cold water of reality then comes crashing down.

A tidal wave of corruption may ensure the Iraqi army and police will be too few and too poorly armed to replace American and British forces fighting anti-government insurgents. That could frustrate plans in Washington and London to reduce their forces in Iraq.

The Iraqi armed forces are full of "ghost battalions" in which officers pocket the pay of soldiers who never existed or have gone home. "I know of at least one unit which was meant to be 2,200 but the real figure was only 300 men," said a veteran Iraqi politician and member of parliament, Mahmoud Othman. "The US talks about 150,000 Iraqis in the security forces but I doubt if there are more than 40,000."

And it isn't just manpower.

The army and police are poorly armed despite heavy expenditure. "The interim government spent $5.2bn (£2.6bn) on the ministry of defence and ministry of the interior during six months but there is little to show for it," said a senior Iraqi official who did not want his name published.

He cited the case of more than $300m spent on buying 24 military helicopters and other equipment from Poland. When Iraqi experts examined the helicopters they found them to be 28 years old - and their manufacturer recommended that they be scrapped after 25 years. Iraq is now trying to get its money back.

The corruption started under the US-run Coalition Provisional Authority in 2003 when Iraqis, often with little experience, were appointed to senior positions in ministries. The Iraqis did not act alone. "The Americans were the partners of the Iraqis in all this corruption," says Dr Othman. The results of the failure to buy effective arms are visible at every Iraqi police or army checkpoint. The weapons on display are often ageing Kalashnikovs. The supposedly elite police commandos drive about in elderly pick-ups with no armour. The ministry of the interior was recently unable to provide a presidential guard with 50 pistols.

Yet, we were spending money so wildly that we still can not account for nine billion dollars.

What is real funny is to comparer this story as is was presented in the UK against the same basic story in the local rag. While the UK edition covers both the manpower and the equipment issue, the US story make no mention of the Iraqi manpower corruption (the bigger issue), and focuses on corruption alone.