Even more chilling were the remarks made by no lesser figure than the American Secretary of Defence Ashton Carter. He said the Ramadi rout showed the Iraqi forces lacked the will to fight against Isis.
He went on to say that the American-led coalition of countries contributing military and other assistance to the fight against Islamic State could "participate" in defeating Isis. But the coalition could not sustain victory. Only the Iraqis could do that. That cuts straight to the stated rationale for the New Zealand deployment.
The Prime Minister has heavily stressed the moral compunction to tackle evil. The Zealand Defence Force has extolled its "long and proud tradition" of providing training for foreign military forces dating back to the Malay insurgency in the 1950s.
But those qualities cannot defeat what first needs to be defeated before you can defeat Islamic State - the endemic corruption and sectarian strife which riddles the Iraqi armed forces. How will New Zealand's modest contribution succeed where the Americans failed, despite spending billions on training Iraqi troops?
Until that happens those troops will owe loyalty to no one. Instead of loyalty, the prime emotion felt by recruits will be fear - the fear that the colleagues fighting beside you might cut and and run, leaving you to the mercy of a cult that shows none.
The uncharitable might wonder whether the razor wire and concrete blocks which encircle Camp Taji are not there so much just to keep Isis outside as to ensure Iraqi army recruits stay inside and do not desert.
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