Report: No Artillery, Tanks in Iraqi Buying Plan

An Iraqi army soldier from 3rd Company, 2nd Battalion, 5th Division watches for enemy movement near a bridge in Shakarat on March 23. In the background, soldiers from the 6th Squadron, 9th Armored Reconnaissance Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division accompany on this joint patrol.

The Iraqi Army is buying gear to protect soldiers from mines and roadside bombs, but is getting too few aircraft, artillery and other weapons that would allow its troops to operate independently of U.S. forces, say Army leaders and independent analysts.

Lt. Gen. Ali Ghaidan, commander of Iraqi Land Forces, said April 11 his troops still lack sufficient artillery, armored vehicles and logistics gear.

“We have been told that delivery of additional tanks and other weapon systems would start as of the second half of 2007,” Ghaidan said.

Iraqi forces currently have no supporting weapons — a category that excludes tanks — heavier than 60mm mortars, according to a Multinational Security Transition Command chart supplied by U.S. Army Maj. Gen. William Caldwell, spokesman for the Multinational Force in Iraq.

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