Carter Arrives in Iraqi Capital on Unannounced Visit

Local Editor

US War Secretary Ash Carter arrived unannounced in Baghdad Thursday. It is Carter's first visit to Iraq since he took office in February.

Carter is not expected to announce any major change in US strategy.

The visit, however, came at an important moment for the Iraqi government, which had announced a counteroffensive to retake Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province. The actual assault on the city had not yet begun, but a Pentagon spokesman, Army Col. Steve Warren, said it could start within several weeks.

The Ramadi campaign will be a crucial test for the Iraqi government led by Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, whereby relying on Iraqi security forces to overcome "ISIL" insurgents.

Furthermore, US President Barack Obama had opted not to commit US ground combat forces to Iraq, saying the only lasting solution is for Iraq to fight for itself.

Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who visited Iraq last weekend, supports Obama's approach. He told a congressional hearing July 7 that he realizes "ISIL's" threat to the US homeland "could increase" as a result of what he called a patient US approach in Iraq and Syria.

After the incident in Ramadi in early May, there was a stir in Iraq when Carter said that the Iraqi army "just showed no will to fight."

"ISIL" will again be outnumbered when, as expected, the Iraqi army makes a renewed assault on Ramadi.

Warren, the Pentagon spokesman who is traveling with Carter, said there are between 1,000 and 2,000 "ISIL" fighters in Ramadi. He would not say how many Iraqi troops were likely to undertake the Ramadi counteroffensive, but he said there are "several thousand" available in the area right now.

Warren said Iraqi security forces currently were carrying out "isolation operations" around Ramadi, meaning they are cutting off avenues of "ISIL" resupply and reinforcement.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team