I saw a similar article in the Telegraph and my initial reactions weren't vastly dissimilar to Hangarshuffle's and MPN11's:
Rory Stewart bleating about Iraq? Hardly surprising given his previous role as Deputy Govenorate Coordinator in Maysan & Dhi Qar Provinces in 2004.
Politicians aren't satisfied with the military contribution to counter-ISIL ops? Last time I checked, the military did what they were told to do - by the politicians. They are the ones that decide what we do - or in the case of Syria don't do - where I suspect the huge number of US air strikes in Kobane and our lack if presence in Syria are skewing their thinking if not their figures. That and how many cabs carrying how much ironmongery??
To do more needs more equipment and spending. QED. It is the politicians that allocate resources and finances. We can only do what you provide us with the means to do.
And to answer a point raised in the Telegraph: of course our knowledge of Iraqi tribes is limited, we've spent 13 years in Afghanistan, the last few focused on Helmand, and before that, holed up in that dump that passes for Basrah, a Shi'a sanctuary vastly different from much of the rest if the country and a world away from Anbar, Ninewa, Salah ad Din and Diyala Provinces where the tribes are fighting ISIL.
If the Defence Select Committee are dissatisfied with the way things are playing out out here, they could do worse than look in the mirror and do a better job of holding the Government to account. Or even ensuring they stuck to NATO 2% targets. Or weren't screwed over by poorly written contracts that cost the earth and deliver little and take huge chunks out of an insufficient and dwindling budget.
Glass houses and stones Mr Stewart, glass houses and stones.