The top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee called Ramadi’s fall to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria a “serious setback,” despite Pentagon efforts to downplay the loss.
“The loss of Ramadi is a serious setback after important gains for the Iraqi forces in Tikrit and elsewhere,” Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said Monday in a statement.
{mosads}The Pentagon confirmed on Monday that the terrorist group now largely controls the capital of Anbar province — which is only 65 miles from Baghdad.
The loss of a provincial capital has raised questions over whether the U.S. strategy in Iraq against ISIS is working, and whether U.S. assessments that ISIS is on the defensive are overly optimistic.
The U.S. is supporting Iraqi forces on the ground with airstrikes, and training 12 brigades of Iraqi forces, including three peshmerga brigades.
The loss of Ramadi has also raised questions over whether Baghdad had done enough to supply Sunni forces in Anbar — a predominantly Sunni area — with weapons and equipment.
The U.S. has insisted on supplying Sunni and peshmerga forces through Baghdad, despite complaints from those forces that they are not receiving supplies fast enough.
Shia militia forces — many of them supported by Iran — are now planning to go into Anbar to help defend the province.
Schiff called that a mistake that would worsen sectarian tension between Iraq’s Sunni and Shia populations. He also said U.S. forces should not be sent in either.
“Instead, all efforts must be made to step up the pace of arming Sunni tribes willing to fight ISIS and reclaim their towns, and to integrate such forces within the Iraqi military,” he said.
“Far too much time has been lost by the Iraqi government in enlisting the help of the tribes and arming them, and the result is a battle that continues to see-saw back and forth,” he said.
“The war in Anbar will not be won until the Sunni tribes feel they can protect themselves — from ISIS and the threat of militia abuses.”
The 2016 House National Defense Authorization Act contains provisions that would mandate the defense secretary to certify that Baghdad is working to address sectarian tensions in Iraq.
If not, then 25 percent of all U.S. military assistance to Iraq would go directly to the peshmerga and Sunnis.
Lawmakers decided to strip a provision that would have established them each as a “country” in order to be supplied directly, after a Shia leader threatened to attack U.S. forces if the bill is passed.