US Slammed For Lack Of Complete Strategy Against ISIS; Obama Deploys More Troops To Iraq

Ten months since the start of the U.S.-led coalition against ISIS in Iraq, U.S. President Barack Obama revealed that his country does not have “a complete strategy” to defeat the terror group. Mr Obama said he will announce a proposal to escalate the training of Iraqi forces when the Pentagon has presented a final plan.

“We don’t have a complete strategy,” said the president at the G7 summit of world leaders in Germany. Mr Obama added that the Iraqis will have to make commitments to complete the strategy.

Before Mr Obama’s news conference, he met with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi at the G7 Summit in Germany to discuss the fight against ISIS. The two leaders had promised that ISIS would face defeat.

The critics of the Obama administration’s strategy in Iraq claimed that the statements suggested a policy failure. The Republican National Committee questioned what the president has been doing in the last 10 months, reports CNN.

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain slammed Mr Obama on the Senate floor for the lack of strategy. “One can wonder, one has to wonder, whether this President just wants to wait out the next year and a half and basically do nothing to stop this genocide, bloodletting, horrible things that are happening throughout the Middle East,” said McCain.

Previous reports have indicated that boosting the fighting capabilities of Iraqi forces had proven to be difficult for the U.S. since it is also depending on Iraqi soldiers to stop ISIS from advancing. After the siege in Ramadi, U.S. Defence Secretary Ash Carter said Iraqi troops seemed to have a “lack of will” within the Iraqi’s military. Since the fight in Ramadi, local Sunni fighters and Shia militias have joined the fight.

The Iraqi prime minister remains confident Iraq will win the war against ISIS. Though Iraq is a not a member of the G7, Mr Abadi joined the summit as a member of the outreach group to discuss terrorism and development.

Meanwhile, Mr Obama has authorised the deployment of up to 450 more U.S. troops to Iraq to help train Iraqi forces. The U.S. will use Al Taqqadum, a base near the town of Habbaniya in eastern Anbar Province, as a training centre, reports the New York Times. The White House said the U.S. president had chosen to send additional troops following the request of the Iraqi prime minister.

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