The State Department on Tuesday defended the Obama administration’s handling of the Islamic State threat, just a day after some criticized President Obama for saying there is no “complete strategy” yet to boost training for Iraqi forces.
On Monday, Obama said in Germany that the Pentagon is working on a plan to “get more Iraqi security forces trained,” but said “we don’t yet have a complete strategy” for that plan because it will require more coordination with Iraq. Some seized on that comment and said it reflects a lack of a broader plan from the U.S., but State Department spokesman John Kirby rejected that Tuesday.
“We do have a strategy, the president was referring to a specific plan to improve training and equipping of the Iraqi security forces,” Kirby said on MSNBC. He described the strategy as one that has “ends, ways and means.”
Kirby also reiterated the notion that the coalition forces need to collaborate with the Iraqi government to ensure success against the terror group’s efforts.
“The ends are very clear, we’ve said this all along, the goal is to degrade and defeat [the Islamic State], to remove them as a threat in the region and frankly, around the world. The ways we are going to do that are through obviously airstrikes. We have to train and equip Iraqi Security forces; this is their fight on the ground. We have to stem the flow of foreign fighters,” he said.
Kirby added that “everyday, we look at the strategy” and adjustments are made as needed.
“We believe, certainly after Ramadi, that there is some room for improvement; it doesn’t mean the idea changes, we need to get those guys more competent on the battlefield, but maybe the way we are going about that needs to be changed a little bit,” Kirby said, adding that from a military perspective, it’s still going to take three to five years to defeat the Islamic State.
