Gaskin: Iraqi Army lacks logistics to remain battle ready

Above: U.S. soldiers train Iraqis on repairing their battle-damaged up-armored Humvees as well as conducting preventative maintenance checks and service both before and after the missions at FOB Falcon on June 22.

Iraq‘s archaic system for supplying and sustaining its troops on the battlefield is a major hurdle in the U.S. effort to fashion an independent Iraqi fighting force, according to a top American military commander.

"Realistically, if things are going the way they‘re going now, you‘d say a year from now the Iraqis training-wise would be ready to do the types of operations we expect of them," Gaskin said Monday in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. "I am not as optimistic about them being able to fix the logistics system."

When vehicles and weapons break down, repair requests are shuttled through a cumbersome and time-consuming approval process. By contrast, the American logistics system is largely automated and operated by military personnel.

Making matters worse, many of the Iraqis who could make this flawed process function were lost when the country‘s army was disbanded in May 2003 by the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority.

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