Back in the 1980s, in a casual conversation with a friend, I commented about how rampant corruption was in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN), that the ARVN was literally paralyzed with corruption, nothing could be done without pay-offs, etc. My friend, a career Army officer who had served abroad in many countries, laughed at my remark and said, essentially, "you haven't seen graft and corruption until you've been to an Arab country!"
Years later, I spent a three year tour in Egypt, and I got a glimpse of that graft and corruption that my friend referred to in our conversation of long ago. In Snap Shots, in Chapter 19 called "Mohi, Zaki and Shahir," I describe an incident in which my friend Shahir, a Coptic Christian, applied for a permit to purchase a shotgun when his old shotgun broke down. The policeman told him that he would not approve his permit because he was a Christian, and that was that! Fortunately, Shahir was able to get his broken shotgun fixed and didn't need to buy a new gun. Later I mentioned to our mutual friend Zaki (a Muslim) that he should perhaps get another shotgun just in case his old gun broke down. I said surely he wouldn't have problems since he was a Muslim. Zaki shook his head and said he would be refused a permit as well, because he didn't have wasta (clout, connections, "juice"), besides, he would have to pay a lot of baksheesh (bribe, tip, pay off) to different officials, and there still wouldn't be any guarantee that he would get his permit!
Both Shahir and Zaki were well to do, only well to do people can afford to go hunting in Egypt. Yet, because they didn't have wasta, they always had to pay baksheesh to get anything done, anything from getting something simple like a telephone line in the house to driver's license! Having diplomatic status, I was immune to most of that graft that was taking place. However, I could see what my friends, those without "special status" had to put up with in their daily lives. Graft and corruption began with the President of the country and worked its way down to the lowest ranking official in the government. Of course, there were and are honest individuals. They are the ones that for the most part started the "Arab Spring Revolution" that toppled Hosni Mubarak and the establishment, only to be replaced by Muslim Brotherhood, which in turn has been replaced by the military! I am told that corruption is even worst now!
Shortly after we defeated Saddam Hussein's forces, the insurgents appeared and there was no Iraqi Army, not the old or the new! Something had to be done to develop forces to combat the insurgents, forces other than US troops. The US Army Special Forces was charged with developing a program that was very similar to the one that was run in Vietnam. In other words, we were going to have Iraqi version of Mike Forces, Strike Forces, etc. Within a short space of time we trained and led various "Commando" units that were very successful in combating the insurgents. Just as in Vietnam, we trained, fed, paid, and led in combat these forces. However, in a few years, just as we had to do in Vietnam, we turned over the command of these "Commando" units to the Iraqis. It didn't take long, less than a couple of months for them to completely destroy these units. The soldiers went unpaid, some even unfed. Most of the units were absorbed by the "new" Iraqi Ground Force Command. In short they were no longer under US control and therefore, completely disintegrated!
All of the captured weapons etc., were turned over to the new Iraqi forces. At one point, over 400,000 AK47 and AKM type assault rifles were logged-in, each by serial number, when the weapons were captured. They were stored in warehouses and guarded by Iraqi forces, those that we managed to retain from the old Iraqi army. When we officially pulled our combat forces out, we turned over all of that equipment. Guess what? Out of 400,000 plus assault rifles, less than 10,000 were found in those warehouses! The Iraqis simply shrugged their shoulders and said we must have made a mistake in our original inventory!
Most young Iraqis who join the army or police force do so only to find employment, to get fed and receive pay. Yet, they even get short changed in that area! Many of the current Iraqi generals are known by their nicknames such as "chicken general" (the general who controls the chicken market in Iraq, chickens that are bought to feed troops, yet end up back on the market!) or "bread general" who controls the bread distribution, etc. The corruption is so endemic and open that most people become blind to it! The generals and government officials ride around in expensive luxury cars and live in fine houses while the troops are barely fed and the general population suffers! That is, of course, unless you have wasta and can afford to pay baksheesh, in which case you can have a good life! You can readily see how ISIS can thrive in such an environment! They claim to offer the people an "out" from this seemingly endless reign of graft and corruption.
It is no different in Afghanistan. If anything, it may even be worst because Afghanistan and the Afghan society was never as developed as the Iraqi, it was always more backward, even before all these troubles. The country is ruled by a former petty warlord in a government that is nothing but a loose coalition, temporary alliance, of different tribes that had been killing each other for generations! The only reason there is some relative agreement among them is because Karzai is distributing the millions that he gets from the US, to keep the tribes off each others backs! Of course he is keeping the lion's share, everyone knows that! That is the prerogative of the leader of the pack, the "President." Karzai's brother is making a fortune off opium, and other warlords are all given concessions for different businesses. You don't get anything done in Afghanistan without wasta or baksheesh, it is like any other country in that region! In Vietnam Ngo Dinh Diem used to hold meetings in which he gave out "concessions" to various officials, i.e., black market cigarettes, whiskey, etc. It is no different in Afghanistan or Iraq for that matter.
Sadly, both in Iraq and Afghanistan, just like in the old Republic of SouthVietnam, soldiers lack motivation. After all, how motivated can you be when you are constantly short changed in your pay, fed inferior foods, and generally treated like crap! Just like the ARVN before them, the ANA (Afghan National Army) and IGFC (Iraqi Ground Forces Command) lack leadership and motivation. Soldiers pay "baksheesh" to their NCOs and officers, while generals pocket large sums of cash from payrolls! Why would anyone fight for such a system of government? If your family has wasta, then you don't have to serve in the military, you can always buy your way out of military service. But if you are poor, you have no choice.
The good fighting units that we created, the Afghan Commandos and the Iraqi Commando units have all been absorbed by their respective systems. They are no longer the elite fighting units that they were. They now lack leadership and motivation, and have become just like the rest of the ANA or IGFC! In Vietnam, the Mike Forces and Strike Forces were simply disbanded, the South Vietnamese said they didn't need them (actually, they didn't trust them!), but in Afghanistan and Iraq, they were simply absorbed by other units.
A sad state of affairs. Don't think we didn't or don't know what was going on and what is still going on. We're not that naïve or stupid! Its just that the American public is not told what is going on. After all, it is our money, the tax payers of America, that supports the lavish lifestyles of the generals and government officials of Afghanistan and Iraq! The war against ISIS will be lost without our strong and complete participation, not just air strikes! Conducting just air strikes sounds great. It is so impersonal, no direct involvement, so to speak. But it doesn't work that way. We need boots on the ground. Afghanistan is no better. If we pull out completely, Taliban and Al Qaeda will return in force and take over the country! Perhaps even ISIS will surface in Afghanistan!
Most recently General Dempsey, our Joint Chief, declared that Pentagon had a specific plan to defeat ISIS. Lets hopes so, let's hope its not just one of those "blowing smoke" PR statements, because Iraqi leaders surely do not have any plans except to get more money from the U.S!
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