Col. Norville B. de Atkine, ret., lays it out on Why Arabs Lose Wars.

Arab officers are not concerned about the welfare and safety of their men. The Arab military mind does not encourage initiative on the part of junior officers, or any officers for that matter. Responsibility is avoided and deflected, not sought and assumed. Political paranoia and operational hermeticism, rather than openness and team effort, are the rules of advancement (and survival) in the Arab military establishments. These are not issues of genetics, of course, but matters of historical and political culture.

This certainly matches what I have seen and others I know have seen in the Middle Eastern culture.