Mission Iraq: State and DOD Face Challenges in Finalizing Support and Security Capabilities
Abstract
The transition from a predominantly U.S. military presence in Iraq led by DoD to a U.S. diplomatic presence led by State concluded on December 18, 2011, when the last units of U.S. Forces-Iraq left that country. State and DoD agreed that State's Mission Iraq needed to meet certain support and security criteria to be considered fully mission capable, and State planned for Mission Iraq to meet those criteria by October 1, 2011. In this statement, GAO provides its assessment of the following: (1) U.S. plans for transitioning to the State-led diplomatic mission in Iraq, (2) Iraqi commitment to the U.S. presence, (3) the extent to which State and DoD have established basic infrastructure and support for Mission Iraq, and (4) the extent to which State and DoD have established personnel and site security for Mission Iraq. To address these objectives, GAO analyzed past and current transition and interagency planning documents, bilateral correspondence, and security assessments, as well as past GAO reports. GAO interviewed State and DoD officials in Washington, D.C. and Iraq, and conducted fieldwork in Iraq at U.S. facilities in Baghdad, Basrah, Erbil, and Kirkuk from July through December 2011. GAO is not making recommendations in this statement, which summarizes a more detailed Sensitive but Unclassified (SBU) briefing GAO provided to Congress. The briefing and related SBU draft report included a recommendation to DoD, whose official comments on the draft report are pending.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 28, 2012
- Accession Number
- ADA562309
Entities
People
- Brandon Hunt
- David Dayton
- Judy Mccloskey
- Martin de Alteriis
- Mary Moutsos
- Michael J. Courts
- Michael Rohrback
- Shakira O Neil
- Tara Copp
- Thomas Costa
Organizations
- United States Government Accountability Office