Two Things Comes to Mind

In the Pre-War era, they compared Saddam with Hitler--Remember that?  It's axiomatic that they did not have a clue about the capabilities of the Iraqi military--which I suggest their Air Force is but an example.

The second thing that comes to my mind is: so much for sovereignty!  Iraq is a puppet regime, under control and is told it cannot have airspace freedom. And that's that.

Iraq's Post-Hussein Air Force Finds Its Wings Clipped

The U.S. military has hurriedly tried to turn over square mile after square mile of territory to Iraqi soldiers and police officers, but it has yet to yield control of a single cubic inch of the country's skies.



Despite U.S. pledges to help, the fledgling Iraqi air force remains tiny and ineffective — consisting of three Vietnam-era cargo planes, a few secondhand helicopters, some small, problem-ridden aircraft and just 14 pilots, decades older than their American counterparts and under threat from Sunni Muslim insurgents and Shiite militias alike.



U.S. military officials say that addressing the question of when they will allow the Iraqi air force to acquire combat capabilities is years away. The U.S. Air Force, they say, will retain control of Iraqi airspace for the foreseeable future, regardless of any drawdown of ground troops.