Iraq Security Assistance Portfolio: Security Sector Training Programs
As the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) continues its offensive in northern and western Iraq, the media and security experts are raising questions about the efficacy of the U.S.-trained Iraqi Security Force (ISF). On June 25, the New York Times editorial board recently criticized the U.S. government’s counterterrorism strategy by arguing “even though the United States spent years and $25 billion to build up the Iraqi Army...entire units disintegrated...in the face of assaults by Islamist insurgents...” The United States often favors security assistance focused on training and equipping foreign security services, rather than building strong security institutions with respect for the rule of law and human rights. The summary below provides a basic review of the types of U.S. security assistance provided to the ISF over the course of the last decade.
Iraq Relief and Reconstruction Fund
In 2003, the United States established the Iraq Relief and Reconstruction Fund (IRRF) to “develop the Iraqi’s capacity to secure their country while carrying out a campaign to neutralize the insurgency.” The initial idea behind the IRRF was to resemble a 21st century Marshall Plan, combining economic assistance with regime change to facilitate a democratic transition in Iraq. The IRRF was divided into two separate funds, the first appropriated during fiscal years 2003 and 2004, and the second appropriated during fiscal years 2005 and 2006, according to assessments completed in 2011 by the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction.
The two funds included security, economic, and political objectives, with approximately $14 billion disbursed to Department of Defense accounts for security sector training and equipping initiatives by the time the fund ended in 2009. Programs supported by the fund were directly responsible for training a 10-division Iraqi army in the immediate years following the 2003 U.S. invasion, aiming to give the ISF the capacity to hold territory and provide security independent of the United States and other external actors. Previous assessments had called the training and equipping programs generally successful.
Iraqi Security Forces Fund
The Iraqi Security Forces Fund (ISFF) was established in 2005 and constituted the bulk of U.S. funds appropriated to training, equipment or related counterterrorism programs in Iraq from 2005-2011. Largely a reaction to the deteriorating security situation on the ground, the fund--which totaled approximately $23 billion over the course of 6 years--sustained U.S. war efforts during the 2007 Surge (Fig. 1).
Figure 1 (Source: Security Assistance Monitor)
Like the IRRF, ISFF sought to “reach minimum essential capabilities [that would] allow the ISF to maintain internal security...while building foundational capabilities for the Iraqi military forces to provide external defense,” according to a fiscal year 2011 budget justification prepared by the Office of the Secretary of Defense. In June 2010, the Department of Defense produced a report for Congress, assessing the security situation in Iraq. The report cites, “In January 2009, the ISF became responsible for security in Iraq. Since then, security incidents continue to drop while the overall security environment under the ISF’s lead continues to improve within the framework of the [security agreement].”
In anticipation of the 2011 U.S. drawdown, security officials used a decline in violent incidents as the primary benchmark for measuring success, rather than assessing how well the ISF could perform minimum essential capabilities. The same 2010 DoD report concludes that while “there continues to be steady growth in the capacity, capability, and professionalism of the ISF...they continue to rely on U.S. Forces for supporting enablers,” indicating that the ISF was still not yet capable of independently providing security as the U.S. began to make plans for a full drawdown.
After the withdrawal of U.S. forces in 2011, ISFF funding concluded with no anticipated future funding.
Foreign Military Financing and International Military Education and Training
Transitioning to a post-war relationship with Iraq, the U.S. converted much of its security assistance to Foreign Military Financing (FMF). In terms of normalizing bilateral relations, FMF is an important tool through which the U.S. finances procurement of defense-related materials and services with allies and partners. In 2013, Iraq was the third highest recipient of FMF, receiving approximately $4.7 billion; however, FMF for Iraq declined for the budget requests in 2014 and 2015, accounting for $5.5 billion of requested funds for both years combined (Fig. 1).
In 2005, the U.S. appropriated funds through International Military Education & Training (IMET) authority - one of the traditional funding accounts by which the United States trains leaders, improves interoperability, and develops relationships with foreign security services. Since 2009, the Obama Administration has kept IMET funding rather consistent, allocating approximately $2 million annually.