Pro-government forces are seeking to retake the capital of the sprawling western province of Anbar after Islamic State extremists overran it last weekend in a significant defeat for the Baghdad government.
The U.S. military said Friday five airstrikes near Ramadi destroyed Islamic State armored vehicles, tanks, personnel carriers and improvised explosive devices and also hit a tactical unit. The coalition also conducted airstrikes near the Iraqi cities of Al Asad, Haditha, Mosul and Sinjar, as well.
Earlier this week, U.S. President Barack Obama reaffirmed the U.S. government's support for Iraq Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and the decision to plan an operation to retake control of the city.
US strategy criticized
The fall of Ramadi is the most serious setback for Iraqi forces in almost a year and has cast doubt on the effectiveness of the U.S. strategy of airstrikes to help Baghdad roll back Islamic State, which controls about a third of Iraq.
In an interview published Thursday, Obama insisted the war against the jihadist group is not being lost.
"There’s no doubt there was a tactical setback, although Ramadi had been vulnerable for a very long time, primarily because these are not Iraqi security forces that we have trained or reinforced,” Obama said in an interview with news magazine The Atlantic..........http://www.voanews.com/content/shiite-militia-iraq-forces-said-moving-on-is-held-areas-near-ramadi/2786748.html
22/5/15
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Iraqi forces lack will to fight - Ashton Carter...
ReplyDeleteUS Defence Secretary Ashton Carter has said the rout of Iraqi forces at the city of Ramadi showed they lacked the will to fight against Islamic State.
Mr Carter told CNN's State of the Union the Iraqis "vastly outnumbered" the IS forces but chose to withdraw.
The head of Iraq's defence and security committee said the comments were "unrealistic and baseless".
The Iraqi government has now deployed Shia militias to the area to try to halt the advance of IS.
On Saturday, the militiamen retook Husayba, east of Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province, with heavy fighting continuing in the area on Sunday.
'Very concerning'
The US has invested in a policy of training and arming the Iraqi forces since it withdrew its combat troops at the end of 2011.
But Iraqi forces have suffered a number of defeats at the hands of IS over the past year, leaving behind US-supplied materiel.......BBC
Selon le Pentagone, les Irakiens n’ont pas montré de "volonté de se battre" pour Ramadi...
ReplyDeleteLe secrétaire d'État à la Défense américain, Ashton Carter, a déclaré, dimanche, que Ramadi était tombée aux mains des jihadistes de l'EI alors que les soldats irakiens, plus nombreux, s'étaient malgré tout retirés de la zone sans combattre.
Les États-Unis ont vertement critiqué l'armée irakienne. Le secrétaire d'État à la Défense américain, Ashton Carter, a déclaré, dimanche 24 mai, que celle-ci n'avait "pas montré de volonté de se battre" pour la ville de Ramadi (ouest) tombée il y a une semaine dans les mains de l’organisation de l’État islamique (EI).
"Ce qui est arrivé apparemment c'est que les forces irakiennes n'ont pas montré de volonté de se battre. (...) Nous avons un problème avec la volonté des Irakiens de combattre l'EI et de se défendre", a déclaré sur CNN le chef du Pentagone.
Les soldats irakiens "n'étaient pas en nombre insuffisant, ils dépassaient largement en nombre les forces opposées, et ils ne sont pas parvenus à se battre. Ils se sont retirés de la zone", a affirmé le ministre américain de la Défense.
"Nous pouvons leur fournir un entraînement, nous pouvons leur apporter des équipements, mais nous ne pouvons évidemment pas leur donner la volonté de se battre", a-t-il ajouté...........france24.com
24/5/15