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Editorial: Candid view of Iraq from defense secretary

 
Published May 26, 2015

Defense Secretary Ash Carter's blunt criticism of Iraq's military brings a much-needed dose of reality to the fight against Islamic State militants. Though the White House spent Monday in damage control mode, the secretary was right on the mark and his assessment was a timely warning that Iraqis, Americans and their coalition partners need to hear.

In an interview Sunday, Carter told CNN that Iraqi forces "showed no will to fight" and fled the Islamic State advance on the key city of Ramadi this month despite troop levels that "vastly outnumbered" the militants. In his comments — the boldest yet from the Obama administration — Carter sought to put into perspective the ability of coalition airstrikes to beat back the insurgency. He also summed up the frustration in this country and abroad with the still-limited capacity of Iraq's armed forces despite a decade of equipment and training from the coalition. "They failed to fight," Carter said. "They withdrew from the site, and that says to me, and I think to most of us, that we have an issue with the will of the Iraqis to fight (the Islamic State) and defend themselves."

Vice President Joe Biden spent Memorial Day on the telephone reassuring Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi of U.S. support. But the point had been made, and the harsh reaction from Iraq and Iran, which is supporting the coalition attacks on the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, exposed the fragile nature of this coalition of convenience. It also underscored larger concerns about the competence of the government in Baghdad and its commitment to bringing the nation's sectarian factions together. A former general who was Britain's most senior officer involved in postwar planning in Iraq echoed Carter's comments, adding that a lack of leadership and cohesion in the ranks was "fundamentally at the heart of the issue with the Iraqi military." On Tuesday, Iraq announced it had launched major offensive to retake Ramadi, in a campaign backed by Shiite militias and pro-government Sunni forces.

The loss of Ramadi followed a pattern, as poorly armed and equipped Iraqi security forces fled their posts in the face of the ISIS advance. Though the Iraqi prime minister's spokesman on Monday blamed the loss on poor management and planning by some commanders, the episode captured the systemic problems within the security forces, from weak leadership and corruption to low morale and desertion. The security forces are losing not only soldiers and territory, but trucks and weapons that ISIS is using to supplement its smaller force by launching bold new attacks.

This frank exchange brings a harsh spotlight to the fiction spun by some hawks in Congress who insist the solution is sending more American troops to Iraq. The allied presence is not going to prevent a breakdown where it matters — in front-line troops who have confidence in their commanders and who see purpose in what they are fighting against. The White House had Biden do what vice presidents do in offering the Iraqis a face-saving, diplomatic gesture. But if Carter's remarks herald a new level of candor at the Pentagon, the defense secretary will serve the interests of both nations by framing the fight against ISIS as a battle for identity — something the allies cannot give the Iraqis and which the Iraqis are still plodding to find for themselves.