Will the US Join the Fight Against ISIS in Ramadi?

Iraqi counter-terrorism forces drive a truck that belonged to Islamic State group fighters in Ramadi, Iraq, on December 9, 2015.

USA airstrikes in current days killed an estimated 350 ISIS fighters holed up within the western Iraqi city of Ramadi, an American military spokesman stated Thurs., suggesting the extremists lost as much as half of their defending force.

US Secretary of Defence Ash Carter has called on coalition allies against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) to send special operations forces to bolster fight against the armed group.

A day ago, U.S.-backed Iraqi forces seized one of the Islamic State’s operations centers on the outskirts of Ramadi, the Iraqi city that has been under the group’s control since spring.

Despite this, it took over six months for Iraqi troops to even successfully surround the city, and there is no timetable for retaking it.

“As that accumulates and there are more of them, we’ll do more to fall in behind them with the objective of them then taking Raqqa, which would be a very important victory in the heart of ISIL territory”, Carter said.

Ramadi residents have reported that Daesh controlled checkpoints in the city have prevented many from fleeing.

He said that if Ramadi is retaken, the Iraqi government expects a predominantly Sunni police force to work to hold the area.

Appearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Carter also said he agreed with comments by Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford, who declared earlier this month that the Islamic State is “not contained”.

“While we certainly have the capability to furnish a USA component to such a ground force, we have not recommended this course of action for several reasons”.

One of the main tasks for Iraqi forces now is to clear the area of bombs planted by ISIS, a favoured tactic of the jihadists that means they can kill security personnel and civilians long after they have withdrawn from an area.

Obama is under mounting pressure to escalate America’s military role in Iraq and Syria, particularly after the November 13 assaults in Paris that killed 130 people, claimed by Islamic State, and last week’s paramilitary-style attack in California by a couple believed by authorities to have been inspired by Islamist militancy. That assistance, he said, could include special operations forces, strike and reconnaissance aircraft, and weapons and munitions. Citing distrust of the Shia-led Iraqi government, they urged the committee to consider a similar measure that would expedite the provision of US equipment and training directly to Sunni forces willing to fight IS.

Carter told senators he had “personally reached out to 40 countries” in the last week to ask them to “contribute more, in many cases contribute much more” toward the coalition effort against ISIS.