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Petraeus sez 'ISIS formidable and Iraqis have no stomach for the fight'
[Daily Mail] Former CIA director David Petraeus has said that Islamic State cannot be defeated by the armed forces alone and that there needs to be a dual approach using both politicians and the military.Foggy Bottom warm glow. Anyone feel it besides me ? The retired general described the terror group as 'a formidable enemy' that cannot be dealt with 'force of arms' alone. Gen Petraeus commanded US troops in Iraq and devised the strategy behind the 2007 and 2008 surge in troop numbers in the country which eventually led to them securing support from Sunni tribesmen against al-Qaeda. Iraq's US-backed army is now battling to retake territory which has since been seized by ISIS. Petraeus scandal parapraph redacted. Gen Petraeus said 'industrial-strength' extremists cannot be dealt with 'just force of arms', he said in an interview with the BBC. He said: 'It is really a conventional army that also has elements of an insurgency, and indeed significant terrorist elements as well.' A hybrid force then, a downside you predicted regarding the Obama total troop pull-out, but failed to remind anyone of, either here or elsewhere. But when asked to compare ISIS with its forerunner, al-Qaeda, he said that the terrorist group 'had much greater roots in Iraq and much greater numbers than ISIS'. He said the fact that ISIS had recently captured the key city of Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province, was 'a strategic loss' but that he believes it will be retaken 'in a matter of weeks or less'. 'You cannot deal with an industrial-strength extremist problem just with force of arms,' he said. 'You have to have that political component as well.' He added that political changes need be made, starting with the fundamentals: 'The Sunni Arabs have to be given incentives to support the new Iraq rather than to oppose it'. Gen Petraeus said that the strategy to combat the militants must be refined and augmented and must involve a 'political component'. He added that he believes Iraqi forces can defeat ISIS as long as they have the right leadership and support. 'During the surge and in the years after the surge, Iraqi forces fought and died for their country at vastly higher numbers than did US and coalition forces. We know that they can fight,' he said. Posted by: Besoeker 2015-06-02 |
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