Ramadi Falls to ISIS, Iraqi Counterattack Stalls
White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest called it a “setback.” Republican critics are calling it a reason to overhaul the United States’ strategy against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or ISIS. Iraqi leaders are under fire because of it. U.S. President Barack Obama says all will be righted soon. What are they talking about?
This debate stems from the latest military defeat at the hands of ISIS militants, this time in the town of Ramadi, Iraq. Ramadi is the capital of Al-Anbar Governorate, and thus makes it one of the most important cities in the war-torn nation. Late in May, ISIS fighters swarmed the city, finally taking it after months of siege.
This was bad news for not only the citizens of Ramadi and the defeated Iraqi forces, but also for Iraqi high command and all who support the current strategies of the United States in providing support in the fight against ISIS. New reports have surfaced showing many levels of dysfunction in the ranks of the Iraqi defenders. One police officer from the area, Col. Eissa Al-Alwani, said that they had been begging the government for months to provide them with money, but had received nothing. As a result, “police solicited cash from local families and businessmen to buy weapons,” as a Washington Post article put it (“Fall of Ramadi reflects failure of Iraq’s strategy”).
An army with no weapons is unlikely to win, and certainly reports like those are disheartening. But an army without ammunition fares even worse, and according to one soldier interviewed by CNN reporters, all the weapons in the world would not have saved Ramadi, because there were not enough bullets to hold off the far-better-equipped ISIS invaders. The soldier, Asa’ad al-Yassiri, remembers cries of despair from his comrades as ISIS closed in and there was little to be done to stop them. According to the United Nations, in the chaos that followed, more than 50,000 people have fled Ramadi (“Inside the battle for Ramadi”).
Not only was the Iraqi army woefully lacking in the materials needed for combat, but also, ISIS appears to have been considerably well-off. The reports from al-Yassiri talked of ISIS fighters driving bulldozers, rigged with explosives, right up to the Iraqis and detonating their vehicles. ISIS fighters had taken up positions all around the city and were closing in fast. Al-Yassiri spoke of seven ISIS fighters who were captured and subsequently tortured for information by Iraqi officers, a stark reminder that neither side is truly above the horrors of war.
After the withdrawal from Ramadi, ISIS inherited a wealth of new equipment from their enemies. In the city of Mosul, which also fell to ISIS earlier on, they had recovered 2,300 armored vehicles, but it is unknown yet just how much the Iraqi army has lost in Ramadi. Certainly, ISIS fighters will be the proud new owners of many weapons and vehicles, and in all likelihood, some U.S.-made equipment as well (“Isis in Iraq”).
Meanwhile in the United States, as Ramadi fell, the heated rhetoric of politicians was on the rise. House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner went as far as to accuse President Obama of not taking the ISIS threat seriously. Many on the right wing have gone back to calling for “boots on the ground,” advocating a US military presence in Iraq once more, mere years after the United States officially withdrew from the nation. Ihsan al-Shamari, a political analyst in Iraq, said “The plan is looking like a failure,” and it seems that with each town that falls, more join his side of the argument (“Fall of Ramadi reflects failure of Iraq’s strategy”).
With the political heat turned up, Iraq and the United States decided to move quickly to retake Ramadi. Just days ago, the Iraqi military, along with local militias and other anti-ISIS fighters launched a counteroffensive to reclaim their lost prize. The operation, code-named “Labaik ya Hussein” after a famous grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, has thus far featured airstrikes from the United States and a mass of Iraqi forces descending on the city once more.
Ahmed al-Assadi, an Iraqi lawmaker, made promises of new weapons that were to be used in the fight, adding that they would “surprise the enemy” (“Fighting, airstrikes reported near Ramadi”). However, initial reports are that ISIS fighters will not give in without another bitter struggle. Using stolen Humvees from the battle, ISIS suicide bombers detonated their vehicles, taking a total of 35 Iraqi fighters with them. Despite the bad news, former CIA director General David Petraeus said that Ramadi could be taken back within weeks (“ISIS in Iraq”).
In the fight against ISIS, clearly there are more than just physical battles. The hearts and minds of the people must be won as well. Lately, it seems as though ISIS is prevailing in this brutal war that has already claimed many lives, and is threatening to claim many more. The American public is torn between giving up and letting Iraq solve their own problems or sending U.S. troops back to Iraq, and neither option looks promising. With all the gloomy reports coming out of Iraq, the future seems unclear, except that it will be full of bloodshed, as Iraq struggles to regain control of its own territory against the increasingly powerful ISIS militants.
Works Cited
Damon, Arwa and Hamdi Alkhshali. Inside the battle for Ramadi: Iraqi soldier recalls the battle with ISIS. 26 May 2015. 1 June 2015 <http://www.cnn.com/2015/05/26/middleeast/iraq-ramadi-inside-the-fight/index.html>.
FoxNews.com. Fighting, airstrikes reported near Ramadi as Iraq launches operation to retake city. 26 May 2015. 1 June 2015 <http://www.foxnews.com/world/2015/05/26/fighting-airstrikes-reported-near-ramadi-as-iraq-launches-operation-to-retake/>.
Naylor, Hugh. Fall of Ramadi reflects failure of Iraq’s strategy against ISIS, analysts say. 19 May 2015. 1 June 2015 <http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/fall-of-ramadi-reflects-failure-of-iraqs-strategy-against-islamic-state-analysts-say/2015/05/19/1dc45a5a-fda3-11e4-8c77-bf274685e1df_story.html>.
Paton, Callum. Isis in Iraq: Mass Humvee suicide bombing kills 35 soliders as Ramadi counter attack stalls. 1 June 2015. 1 June 2015 <http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/iraq-isis-news-mass-suicide-bombing-stolen-humvees-kills-35-soliders-ramadi-counter-attack-stalls-1503883>.