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Defeating ISIS: Are the Key Players Up to the Job?

CBN

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The Iraqi government has launched a major military offensive to retake the city of Ramadi from ISIS. But will its efforts and the Obama administration's tactics be enough to defeat the Islamic State?

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi says yes.

"I can assure you we can bring it back soon. I'm talking about days now," he said.

But a number of U.S. officials and strategists are questioning Iraq's will and the Obama administration's commitment to defeat the jihadist army.

As they did in Mosul last summer, Iraqi troops fled Ramadi when Islamic State fighters overran the city.

That led to harsh criticism from U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter.

"The Iraqi forces just showed no will to fight," he said. "They were not outnumbered, but in fact they vastly outnumbered the opposing force, and yet they failed to fight."

Many analysts are asking who really lacks the will to confront ISIS: the Iraq army or the Obama administration?

Gen. Qassim Soleimani, the head of Iran's elite Quds forces of the Revolutionary Guards, put the blame on the United States, suggesting that the United States formed a coalition but hasn't done a thing to defeat ISIS.

He said America doesn't have the will to confront them.

Now a growing number of military strategists both inside and outside of the Pentagon are questioning the president's approach of fighting ISIS with only limited U.S. airstrikes.

According to the Washington Times, one Defense Department counterterrorism official asked, "What strategy? We are now floating along, reacting to ISIS."

Others question the administration's rules of engagement for the airstrikes. One former Pentagon official told the Times that combat pilots can linger over targets for hours before approval comes to strike.

And there's reportedly growing concern about the United States not getting advanced weapons to the Kurdish Peshmerga fighters. They are one Iraqi force willing to fight, with proven success on the battlefield. But critics say the United States isn't doing enough to support them.

And even though ISIS has made numerous gains in recent weeks -- not only in Iraq, but also in Syria -- the White House still claims its policy against ISIS is working. And the Iraqi government's wide-scale operation to defeat ISIS in Ramadi was well-received at the White House.

"I think that is a clear indication of the will of the Iraqi security forces to fight," White House press secretary Josh Earnest said. "And the United States and our coalition partners will stand with them as they do so."

But how firmly they stand -- and whether it will be enough to defeat ISIS in Iraq and Syria -- will be apparent in the days and weeks ahead.

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