“It’s a common thing for us to see our commanders abandoning us,” said Mr. Adwani. He recounted an experience last year in Ramadi—the provincial capital of Anbar which Islamic State seized last month—where his captain retreated during a close firefight with Islamic State…

Many Iraqis say recent efforts by Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to reform the officer corps aren’t enough to overcome deep-rooted leadership problems and cratering troop morale, especially as Islamic State presses its advance in Iraq and forces are stretched thin across battlefields…

Other Iraqi officials and army members say a $1.6 billion U.S. program to train and equip the Iraqi army doesn’t address structural flaws created when the army under Saddam Hussein was disbanded and rebuilt by American generals after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion…

“The best solution for the Iraqi army is to dissolve it and build it back from the ground up.”