via Military Times...
This is a must read because its bullshit. Weaponry, equipment and training can only carry you so far. You have to have the will to fight and to win! The Iraqi forces had the right equipment, weaponry and training. They simply lacked will.
Experts say ISIS totals no more than 10,000 fighters throughout Iraq and Syria, while the force that specifically seized the city of Mosul this week probably totaled about 800 fighters. That force overpowered two Iraqi Army divisions totaling about 30,000 troops.Let me be clear.
“Clearly, the Iraqi forces in the north lack cohesion and a will to fight,” said Jeff White, a former intelligence analyst with the Defense Intelligence Agency who is now a defense expert with the Washington Institute think tank.
In terms of weaponry, ISIS has small arms and civilian-style pickup trucks with mounted crew-served weapons, mainly heavy machine guns such as Russian-made Dushkas, and also a limited supply of 23mm anti-aircraft weapons that they are using for direct fire, White said.
On the other side, the Iraqi army is awash in about $15 billion in U.S. gear transferred since 2005, including IA-407 helicopters, M-1 Abrams tanks, C-130 fixed-wing aircraft and 300 hellfire missiles, Pentagon officials say.
This is a must read because its bullshit. Weaponry, equipment and training can only carry you so far. You have to have the will to fight and to win! The Iraqi forces had the right equipment, weaponry and training. They simply lacked will.
