Thursday, May 28, 2015

Will Iraqis' Loss of a 'will to fight' Force the Return of U.S. Ground Troops?

Iraqi security forces and tribal fighters in Ramadi in
 April, before the city was seized by Islamic State
As Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter sent out shockwaves with his blunt comments yesterday that Iraqis lost their “will to fight” the Islamic State in Ramadi, one security expert predicted U.S. ground troops will have to return to Iraq to keep ISIS from spreading.
The Islamic State group’s takeover of the provincial capital Ramadi is stark evidence that Iraqi forces lack the “will to fight,” Carter said in a TV interview that aired yesterday. The assessment raised questions about the Obama administration’s strategy to defeat the extremist group that has seized a strategically important city.
Iraqi security forces withdraw from Ramadi on May 17
“We need to take the battle to ISIS and we’re not doing that right now,” said Cedric Leighton, a retired Air Force colonel who held top posts at the NSA and the Pentagon. “We need to be prepared to send U.S. forces in a very limited number. We can not afford to have ISIS take over Iraq. The Iraqis need to be front and center, we need to let them know that. But we also need to let them know we have their backs.”
IN RETREAT: Iraqi security forces recently defend their 
headquarters against attacks by Islamic State extremists 
during a sandstorm in Ramadi, the capital of Anbar 
province, near Baghdad. Troops withdrew from 
Ramadi without putting up much resistance.
Leighton said of Carter’s remarks: “It’s a bad move. It fails to take into account that Iraqis have died for Ramadi. And in their context, they have made significant sacrifices.”
Leighton added it would be prudent for the U.S. to first seek ground troops from Arab partners, but even if ground troops are sent from other countries into Iraq, the U.S. will still have to assist with intelligence and logistics, he said.
Although Iraqi soldiers “vastly outnumbered” their opposition in the capital of Anbar province, they quickly withdrew last Sunday without putting up much resistance from the city in Iraq’s Sunni heartland, Carter said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
The Iraqis left behind large numbers of U.S.-supplied vehicles, including several tanks, now presumed to be in Islamic State hands.
Read the rest of the story HERE and listen to Carter's comments below:



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