The BBC reports that Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi is saying:
The Iraqi city of Ramadi could be taken back from Islamic State (IS) militants “in days”…
Iraqi units were forced to retreat from Ramadi last week, defeated – not to say “routed” – by ISIS forces. After which:
US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter said that the rout showed Iraqi troops lacked the will to fight … despite the fact that they “vastly outnumbered” IS forces.
Meanwhile, as the Christian Science Monitor reports:
Gen. Qassim Soleimani, head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s elite Quds forces, seemed to suggest that the US might want to examine its own glass house before casting blame for the fall of Ramadi, saying that it is the US that has shown “no will” in fighting the Islamic State.
And:
“Quite frankly, Soleimani is correct,” says retired Col. Peter Mansoor, who served as the executive officer for Gen. David Petraeus in Iraq.“The shortfalls in our strategy are becoming apparent: Shiite militias are a more capable ground force now because they have Iranian advisers embedded in them,” he adds. “The Shiite militias are commanded by committed leaders, and the weak ones are being weeded out. You can’t say the same thing about the Iraqi Army.”
If there is a fight to retake Ramadi, it will tell us a lot.
