The New Iraq, Five Years and Counting: Current Discussion Thread

So how well is the Iraqi army up to the task of policing the country? Also, I've heard it said that the presence of U.S. troops makes certain Shi'ite Iraqi politicians lazy and unwilling to put forth the political effort to fix things....is the pullout threat actually making a difference, or will it backfire?

 

From this last tour, they're a hell of a lot more capable than they were during my first tour there. We needed to baby-sit them through everything my first trip there; now, not so much.