re: 60 Iraqi battalions unaccounted for or defeated

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As for why U.S.-trained Iraqi forces are disintegrating, much of the blame rests with Maliki, officials say.

The controversial Iraqi leader is faulted for purging the army of senior leaders and replacing them with "cronies and hacks."

Retired Gen. Jack Keane, Fox News military analyst and former Army vice chief of staff, said that several years ago, the army was "well-led and it was competent" -- but morale "began to systematically break down for the last three years" because of "ineffective leaders."

But experts say the blame also lies with the U.S., and the failure to strike an agreement allowing U.S. forces to stay beyond 2011.

"We left [Maliki] to himself," Keane said, adding that the army is "kind of like a house where termites have been at it for years."

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