Carter: Iraqi troops were not equipped on time to fight IS

WASHINGTON, June 17 (UPI) -- Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said at a House hearing Wednesday, that a lack of sufficient Iraqi recruits has slowed down Obama administration's efforts against the Islamic State.

During a press conference Wednesday, Carter said that the Pentagon's strategy for training local troops to wage the war against terrorism has not gone well, stating that only 7,000 out of a possible 24,000 Iraqi soldiers have been trained in addition to 2,000 counter-terrorism personnel. He added that although the U.S. is open to increasing support for the Iraqi military, the Iraqi government must also commit itself more strongly.

Carter also mentioned the United States' lethargy in delivering equipment such as anti-tank weapons to Iraqi forces. The Defense Secretary said losing Ramadi was "disappointing" and that the loss should result in a review of the strategy and the deployment of 450 additional U.S. troops for the purpose of recruiting and training normally under-represented Sunni soldiers.

On June 9, however, Iraqi forces successfully sabotaged an ISIS attack on an army headquarters in eastern Ramadi, inflicting heavy personnel and equipment losses.

This is not the first time Carter publicly speaks about the impact Iraqi troops are having on the fight against the IS.

In a CNN interview late May, Carter had criticized the lack of Iraqi troops' will to fight the Islamic State in Ramadi, Iraq, a city that they lost control of despite outnumbering the enemy nearly 10 to 1.

Carter's comments were accompanied by those of Army General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who argued that the Pentagon's strategy also included airstrikes. Senator John McCain has called for additional, more specialized troops to be deployed in order to call in more precise airstrikes.