Senate Armed Service Committee Chairman John McCain on Monday slammed remarks Gen. Martin Dempsey made about the threatened fall of Ramadi as “unbelievable” and “an insult” to the military who fought there.
McCain, R-Ariz., said 187 service members were killed and more than 1,150 wounded in the 2006-07 fight to secure Ramadi, which is the capital of the Anbar province in Iraq.
Ramadi is now on the verge of falling to the Islamic State terrorists. Dempsey, who is chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, downplayed the possible capture of Ramadi. Dempsey said last week that the city is “not central to the future of Iraq” and is “not symbolic in any way” to the success of the campaign to defeat Islamic terrorists.
McCain said he disagrees.
“This unbelievable statement is an insult to all those brave Americans who served and sacrificed in Ramadi, and the families and loved ones who miss them so dearly,” he said Monday.
