US: Iraqi forces lack will to fight ISIL

[Paul Alex]

US Defence Secretary Ash Carter has criticised Iraqi forces for showing no will to fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group during the fall of Ramadi, in comments dismissed as "baseless" by a senior Iraqi legislator.

Carter told CNN's State of the Union programme on Sunday that the Iraqi army failed to take on ISIL despite having a numerical advantage.

"The Iraqi forces just showed no will to fight ... they vastly outnumbered the opposing force and yet they withdrew from the site," Carter said.

"Iraqi officials are blaming the US for not delivering crucial weapons well before ISIL mounted their offensive. According to them, the US could have stopped the fall of Mosul," he said.

Carter's comments were rejected by a senior Iraqi lawmaker, Hakim al-Zamili, who said the Pentagon chief's comments were "unrealistic and baseless".

Zamili, who heads the Iraqi parliamentary defence and security committee, said the US should bear much of the blame for Ramadi's fall for its failure to provide "good equipment, weapons and aerial support" to the soldiers.

He said the US military was seeking to "throw the blame on somebody else", the Associated Press news agency reported.

Carter said that the US was continuing to provide air strikes and supply Iraqi forces with training and equipment, but Washington was keeping a close watch on the situation.

"Air strikes are effective, but neither they nor anything we can do can substitute for the Iraqis' will to fight," Carter said.

"They're the ones who have to beat ISIL and then keep them beat."

"If there comes a time when we need to change the kinds of support we're giving to the Iraqi forces, we'll make that recommendation."

Source: Aljazeera

 

[TUJITEGEMEE]

Je, hili laweza kuwa jibu la kuwashughulikia ISIL???

Israel merges IDF elite units to form the new Commando Brigade tailored to combat ISIS

The new Commando Brigade is designed for quiet, bold, covert and effective action against terrorist groups posing a threat from the Sinai Desert to Egyptian sovereignty and Israel's southern border. Such action would be coordinated closely between Israeli and Egyptian military and intelligence arms.

Similar operations would also be staged if necessary from Israel's northern border – against Hizballah or any threat from Syria. The new outfit brings together the different skills and the high, focused fire power rendered by the four elite units' assorted weaponry.

In this sense, these units, all highly adept in different aspects of covert and stealth operations deep behind enemy lines, complement one another. This amalgam that may be loosely likened to a unique combination of US Delta, Seals, Rangers, and airborne commandoes all rolled in one.

The elite units merged into the new commando brigade are:

1. Meglan, which specializes in destroying enemy systems with the accent on armored units. Its members are equipped with intelligence technology for gathering data and its transmission in real time.
2. Duvdevan's tasks are to liquidate targeted terrorists and round up suspects. Its members operate under cover by blending into a hostile population in disguise. They are trained for single combat in the heart of enemy terrain.
3. Egoz commandos employ guerilla tactics borrowed from the books of terrorist organizations.
4. Rimon commandos also blend into a hostile population disguised as locals for the purpose of spotting and foiling terrorist operations in difficult and complex areas.

The commander of the new combined brigade is Col. David Zinni who defers to the 98th (Esh) Division.

Source:>>> Israel merges IDF elite units to form the new Commando Brigade tailored to combat ISIS