WASHINGTON — Vice President Joe Biden reassured Iraq’s government Monday of U.S. support in the fight against the Islamic State, telephoning Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi with thanks for “the enormous sacrifice and bravery of Iraqi forces” one day after Defense Secretary Ash Carter questioned the Iraqi military commitment.
Biden’s call followed harsh criticism from Iraqi and Iranian quarters after Carter questioned Iraqi forces’ “will to fight” the surging Islamic State.
A White House statement Monday said the vice president welcomed an Iraqi decision to mobilize more troops and “prepare for counterattack operations.” Biden also pledged full U.S. support to “these and other Iraqi efforts to liberate territory from ISIL,” the statement said, using an acronym for the Islamic State.
In reaction to Carter’s remarks, which were aired Sunday in a TV interview, a spokesman for Iraq’s prime minister suggested the defense secretary had “incorrect information,” while Gen. Qassim Soleimani, the head of the elite Quds forces in Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, offered his own critical assessment of U.S. forces.
The heated exchanges came after the loss of Ramadi and amid other gains by the Islamic State in recent days. The statements laid bare fissures among countries that have become allies of convenience against the militants.
The criticism from both Iraq and Iran began when Carter told CNN’s “State of the Union” that Iraqi forces “vastly outnumbered” the Islamic State, but still “showed no will to fight” and fled the Islamic State advance on the capital of Anbar province.
On Monday, Saad al-Hadithi, a spokesman for al-Abadi, said his government was surprised by Carter’s comments. “We should not judge the whole army based on one incident,” al-Hadithi said. Al-Hadithi said the Iraqi government believes the fall of Ramadi was due to mismanagement and poor planning by senior military commanders in charge. However, he did not elaborate, and no action has been taken against those commanders.
In Iran, the daily newspaper Javan, which is seen as close to the Revolutionary Guard, quoted Soleimani as saying the United States didn’t do a “damn thing” to stop the extremists’ advance on Ramadi.
“Does it mean anything else than being an accomplice in the plot?” he reportedly asked, later saying the U.S. showed “no will” in fighting the Islamic State.
Soleimani said Iran and its allies are the only forces that can deal with the threat. “Today, there is nobody in confrontation with (the Islamic State) except the Islamic Republic of Iran, as well as nations who are next to Iran or supported by Iran,” he said.
So far, the American approach to the conflict has been to launch airstrikes as part of an international coalition it leads, as well as equipping and training Iraqi forces. But U.S. officials also have become uneasy with Iran’s growing role in the conflict.
Iran has offered advisers, including Soleimani, to direct Shiite militias fighting against the extremists.
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