Will to fight is the disposition to fight, act, or persevere when needed. In 2014, many units from the regular forces of the Iraqi Army collapsed. Tens of thousands of Iraqi soldiers in 19 brigades—all armed with modern weapons, vehicles, and armor—failed to fight, act, or persevere when needed. Their failure ceded one-third of Iraq to the Islamic State. It gave the Islamic State the funds and haven it needed to conduct worldwide terror attacks and to threaten stability across the Middle East and parts of Africa, East Asia, and Europe.

Failure of Iraqi Army will to fight meant that the United States and its allies were faced with the necessity of sending thousands of military personnel back into Iraq to prevent its collapse.

More recently, American and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) intervention in Iraq has again diverted resources from the ongoing fight in Afghanistan. Deployment of U.S. forces to Iraq also draws away some resources from efforts to reestablish U.S. conventional military capabilities and to compete with China and Russia outside the Middle East. While this report recommends a long-term, small-footprint commitment in Iraq, creating lasting stability in Iraq would help reduce commitments and free up finite resources.

Security force assistance is the core American military approach to achieving regional stability. Instead of sending tens of thousands of troops to directly secure American interests, advisors work to establish security by, with, and through partnered military forces, such as the Iraqi Army. When these forces succeed, American security objectives are often met, and large numbers of U.S. troops are not needed. When these forces fail, American interests are put at risk, and unexpected demands on the military might suddenly arise.

As of mid-2021, official U.S. policy on Iraq centered on security force assistance support to the Iraqi armed forces and police. The United States seeks an “enduring strategic partnership” with Iraq in order to strengthen existing bilateral relationships and to help ensure that Iraq is a force for stability and democracy in the Middle East.2 Specifically, the United States “supports the development of a modern, accountable, fiscally sustainable, and professional Iraqi military capable of defending Iraq and its borders.”3 This mission is effectively unchanged from 2005, when the U.S. National Security Council issued the National Strategy for Victory in Iraq.4 There is much to recommend this official policy toward Iraq. Keeping Iraq stable and generally supportive of American national security objectives in the Middle East would help prevent the reemergence of the Islamic State, deter Iranian aggression, and reduce regional opportunities for Russia and China to gain economic and military advantage in Iraq and across the greater Middle East. As the events of 2014 demonstrated, providing the Iraqi Army with generous amounts of military equipment has not been enough to help keep Iraq stable. Iraqi soldiers have to be prepared to fight, act, and persevere when needed. The entire Americanled coalition security force assistance mission in Iraq hinges on Iraqi Army will to fight. The purpose of this report is to inform the establishment of an enduring low-cost, low-risk, smallfootprint advisory mission in Iraq.