A summer of stalemate in the effort to reclaim the Iraqi provincial capital of Ramadi, despite US-backed Iraqi troops vastly outnumbering Daesh fighters, calls into question not only Iraq's ability to win a test of wills over key territory but also the future direction of Washington's approach to defeating the extremist group.
| Why is this our problem again? Champ pulled us out of there, remember? It's Iraq's problem now. And Iran's, and Syria's, and Russia's. |
The Ramadi standoff, with no immediate prospect of an Iraqi assault on the city, drags on even as the US prepares to makeover its approach to countering Daesh in Syria and congressional Republicans cite Ramadi as evidence of a failed American strategy. Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona, a leading critic, says it's clear the US is not winning, "and if you're not winning in this kind of warfare, you are losing."
| John the strategist. You couldn't defeat the Democrats... |
The Obama administration insists patience will pay off, even in Ramadi, where in May, Daesh won control against a much larger Iraqi force, shattering claims by US military officials that the group was on the defensive across Iraq.
| Patience is not all we have: we also have some nifty hashtags... |
Afterward, Defence Secretary Ash Carter said the Iraqis, who had no US-trained soldiers with them and had fled Ramadi, "showed no will to fight."
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