Fighters of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) celebrate on vehicles taken from Iraqi security forces, at a street in city of Mosul, June 12, 2014. REUTERS/Stringer
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Iraqi army that disintegrated under an onslaught by Islamist fighters this week was a hollow force, riven by corruption, poor leadership and sectarian splits - a shadow of the military Washington had hoped to leave in the war-ravaged country.
The United States dismantled Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's military after invading in 2003 and spent $20 billion (11.79 billion pounds) to build up a new 800,000-strong force, banking on its ability to keep the peace when the U.S. military withdrew in 2011.
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