The Pentagon on Wednesday promised to do more to help Iraq defeat the Islamic State, but only when Iraqi fighters show the “motivation” to defeat the terrorist group.
“We have about 3,500 troops at six locations in support of Iraqi Security Forces, or ISF. There, we’ve been providing increased lethal fire and augmenting the existing training, advising and assisting program. And we’re prepared to do more as Iraq shows capability and motivation in the counter-ISIL fight and in resolving its political divisions,” Defense Secretary Ash Carter said at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, using the administration’s preferred term for the Islamic State.
The comments are reminiscent of Carter’s statement this summer when Ramadi fell into Islamic State control because of an Iraqi force that, while vastly outnumbering the terrorists, lacked the “will to fight.”
“We can give them training, we can give them equipment — we obviously can’t give them the will to fight,” Carter said during an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union” in May. “But if we give them training, we give them equipment, and give them support, and give them some time, I hope they will develop the will to fight, because only if they fight can ISIL remain defeated.”
Justin Johnson, a defense analyst with the Heritage Foundation, said he was surprised that Carter would bring up a sentiment that drew so much blowback from the administration and the Iraqis.
“I am a little bit surprised he’s talking about motivation again. At the same time, he’s kind of in a tough spot,” Johnson said. “Being able to talk honestly and openly about challenges the Iraqi Security Forces present is important, but when you start publicly potentially denigrating this partner in this fight, that can get into dangerous territory.”
This week, Carter said the U.S. would provide more assistance to Iraqi forces fighting to retake Ramadi in the form of attack helicopters and accompanying advisers if requested by the Iraqi prime minister.
One of the biggest problems facing the Iraqi government from the American perspective is the influence of Iran and Russia. Johnson said the U.S. has little leverage to get the Iraqi government to fix itself given that it can turn to Tehran or Moscow for help.
“I’m not sure while we’re in the middle of the fight that we have much leverage to tell the Iraqi government to get their act together,” he said. “We might be better off by saying we’re going to help, we’re concerned about these influences, but we’re going to help you first because we care about the threat … Once we’ve earned our way back in, we’d have more leverage to get Iraqi government back where it needs to be.”
Carter said Iraqi forces are beginning to make progress in the operation to retake Ramadi, which has stretched on for a “frustratingly long time.” The Iraqi Security Forces recently retook the Anbar Operations Center, across the the center of the city, Carter said.
He pointed to these successes as evidence that “training, advising and assisting is the right approach. We will do more of what works going forward.”
