FICTITIOUS SOLDIERS OR GHOST SOLDIERS! Iraq Has Found 50,000 Non-Existent Soldiers On Its Payroll; Hierarchical Payroll Padding

Reuters / Stringer

Iraqi Prime Minister vows to stamp out corruption as US administration seeks funding to train Iraqi military.

Haidar al-Abadi said Sunday an investigation had found 50,000 “ghost soldiers” in the Iraqi military and vowed to widen a crackdown on corruption in his country.

“Over the past few weeks, the PM has been cracking down to expose the ghost soldiers and get to the root of the problem,” Abadi’s spokesman Rafid Jaboori said.

He said that the probe started with a thorough headcount during the latest salary payments.

Soldiers confirmed to AFP that salaries were paid only recently after a two-month delay about which they were given no explanation.

“There are two kinds of ‘fadhaiyin,’” one experienced officer in the security forces said, using a word which, literally translated, means “space men,” and refers to the fictitious soldiers.

“The first kind: each officer is allowed, for example, five guards. He’ll keep two, send three home and pocket their salary or an agreed percentage,” he told AFP.

“Then the second and bigger group is at the brigade level. A brigade commander usually has 30, 40 or more soldiers who stay at home or don’t exist,” the officer said.

“The problem is that he too, to keep his job as a brigade commander, has to bribe his own hierarchical superiors with huge amounts of money,” he said.

The United States is encouraging Abadi to create a leaner, more efficient military as the Pentagon requests US$1.2 billion to train and equip the Iraqi army next year. The US has spent more than US$20 billion on the force from the 2003 invasion until its troops withdrew at the end of 2011.

Yet the army collapsed when fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group launched a sweeping offensive in June.

Iraqi premier Haidar al-Abadi (AFP Photo / Sabah Arar)

Since taking office in September, Abadi has sacked or retired several top military commanders, and Sunday’s announcement suggests he wants to tackle the graft and patronage that prevailed under his predecessor Nuri al-Maliki.

“Haidar al-Abadi is setting integrity, efficiency and courage as the criteria to appoint a new military leadership,” Jaboori said.

“This weeding out process will extend beyond the military to all state institutions,” he said.