US says Iraqi recruits for Daesh war falling short

Washington: The effort to train Iraqi forces to fight Daesh militants has been slowed by a lack of recruits and the US will not meet its goal to train 24,000 by this fall, Defence Secretary Ashton Carter said on Wednesday.

Carter told the House Armed Services Committee that the US had initially envisioned training 24,000 Iraqi security forces at four sites by this fall. But he said the US has received only enough recruits to be able to train about 7,000 — in addition to about 2,000 counterterrorism service personnel.

“Our training efforts in Iraq have thus far been slowed by a lack of trainees. We simply haven’t received enough recruits,” Carter said at a hearing about US policy in the Middle East.

So far, the US is advising local Iraqi forces and is not engaging in combat against Daesh militants who have seized territory throughout Iraq and Syria.

The White House announced last week that it was sending up to 450 more US troops to a new base in Al Anbar province of western Iraq, mainly to advise the Iraqis on planning and execution of a counteroffensive to retain Ramadi, the provincial capital. Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has said that more such US hubs could be opened elsewhere in Iraq as the campaign advances.

Asked whether the 450 extra troops will make a difference in the fight against Daesh, Carter said the numbers are not as significant as the location.

The US is pushing for a more inclusive government in Baghdad that is representative of Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds, Iraq’s three major groups.

“As I’ve told Iraqi leaders, while the United States is open to supporting Iraq more than we already are, we must see a greater commitment from all parts of the Iraqi government,” Carter said, adding that the Iraqi leaders understand the need to empower a multisectarian Iraqi force as well as addressing organisational and leadership failures.

Carter testified along with Dempsey, who is finishing a four-year stint as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Dempsey has expressed the view that the US needs to be patient and not give up on the Iraqi government’s ability to fight Daesh. Many Republicans in Congress, however, are leery and say the US should not rely on the Iraqis.

“There is a sense that we are at a particularly perilous time and that US policy and strategy are inadequate,” said committee Chairman Mac Thornberry, R-Texas.

Rep. Adam Smith, the committee’s ranking Democrat, cautioned that US military might alone will not defeat Daesh.

“We can drop 200,000 US troops in the middle of this. It won’t solve the problem,” Smith said.

Carter’s testimony was interrupted by an anti-war protester who shouted “We need a political solution.”