On November 2, the U.S. General Accountability Office (GAO) released a report analyzing the Dept. of Defense’s ability to drawdown (or withdrawal) U.S. Forces from Iraq. Troop withdrawal plans are based on the U.S.-Iraq Security Agreement signed in 2008 (support by President Obama here ) and intend to reduce to 50,000 troops by August 2010 and be completely withdrawn by the end of 2011. This task is daunting and means the drawdown of 128,700 U.S. troops, 115,000 contractors, closing 295 bases and the retrograde of over 3.3 million pieces of U.S. DOD equipment in Iraq worth $45.8 billion. Can the DOD meet the timeline set by the President and the U.S.-Iraq Security Agreement? The GAO took a look.
The U.S. General Accountability Office is considered a watchdog agency that examines the use of public funds; evaluates federal programs and policies; and provides analyses, recommendations and other assistance to help Congress and the President make decisions. The following are problems that the GAO identified as impeding the phased withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq. More details about each are found in the report.
• contract services that need to support the drawdown have not been fully identified;
• potential costs and other concerns of transitioning key contracts that may outweigh potential benefits;
• longstanding shortages of contract oversight personnel may increase the likelihood of wasteful practices during the drawdown;
• some key decisions about the disposition of equipment that have not yet been made; what equipment will be given to the Iraqi government and what will return to the U.S.?
• longstanding information technology system weaknesses and problems with legacy systems; and
• a lack of complete and accurate inventory over some equipment.
The GAO’s prediction- “Without resolution, these issues may inhibit the efficient and effective execution of the drawdown.”
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Below are some key documents related to the U.S. withdrawal from Iraq:
- U.S./Iraq Security Agreement , also called Iraq Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA). Agreement between the United States and the Republic of Iraq on the Withdrawal of United States Forces from Iraq Nov. 17, 2008 (24 pages) and from the White House website here.
- Strategic Framework Agreement (SFA) Nov. 17, 2008 (8 pages) and from the White House website here.
- Operation Iraqi Freedom: Preliminary Observations on DOD Planning for the Drawdown of U.S. Forces from Iraq, GAO-10-179, November 02, 2009, (29 pages).
- Multi-National Forces-Iraq web site. (Just click “continue” to get through the certificate errors.)
- U.S. Department of State Weekly Iraq Status Reports
- Other U.S. GAO reports on Iraq and Afghanistan
