Very basic training.

From the time that Bush's choice as viceroy, L. Paul Bremer, disbanded the Iraqi army in the spring of 2003, it has been clear that one of the urgent tasks confronting us is to train a new force. Administration officials repeatedly told us that a new Iraqi army would be able to take over. Yet three and a half years have passed, and the Iraqi army is nowhere near ready to take over.

A few months ago, we noted Greg Jaffe's report from The Wall Street Journal about how miserably housed the Iraqi troops are. Now comes another Journal story by Jaffe about the quality of training and equipment the U.S. has provided. He tells of the shock experienced by Lt. Col. Nick Demas, when he learned that he had been assigned "inexperienced reservists from Maryland.... to live with, train, and mentor" Iraqi troops. Jaffe makes clear the colonel's situation was not atypical. One factor: "the U.S. army culture that discourages good officers from taking advisory posts."

As for the equipment we give the Iraqi army, the advisors are warned, "you will not have all the radios, weapons, night vision devices and field gear issued to a U.S. battalion." This turns out to be a considerable understatement. One advisor told Jaffe, "we had to beg for support. It was like pulling teeth."