WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — On May 24, 2015, US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said Iraqi security forces showed no will to fight after the city of Ramadi, 80 miles west of Baghdad, fell to the ISIL militants on May 17.
The Islamic State seized Ramadi and inflicted heavy casualties to the Iraqi army despite being vastly outnumbered.
“It will require a multi-sectarian force to succeed against ISIL [Islamic State]. They [Iraqi government] will need every element of their diversity to counter this specific threat.”
Earnest said a multi-sectarian force including Sunni and Kurdish minorities should be deployed to every area of Iraq.
“We can’t just see Shia Iraqi security forces fighting in Shia parts of the country.”
The unwillingness to fight, he added, "certainly has been a problem that we have seen in the past."
