re: the well-trained Iraqi army
The original Iraq army was organized largely along Soviet-style lines, and without that top-heavy ideological chain of command were not of much use.
There is a myth that somehow we could have just flipped a switch on Saddam's army and turned it into a force for freedom. Not true. Trainers are overcoming a lot of bad military habits in former Army personnel, never mind the Sunni-Shiite-you-name-it issues. The Army is doing a better job of overcoming this than the police are, and most Iraqis have more confidence in the Army than the police.