BAGHDAD –
On the heels of Defense Secretary Ash Carter’s visit here,
the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff arrived in Iraq’s capital city today
for talks with Iraqi, American and coalition officials.
Marine Corps Gen. Joe Dunford’s visit seeks to build on that
visit and on the momentum in the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and
the Levant.
The Iraqis have pushed back against the terror group,
defense officials have said in recent news briefings. Iraqi forces cleared ISIL
out of Beiji and Ramadi and, according to today’s briefing by Combined Joint
Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve spokesman Army Col. Steve Warren, have
liberated Hit. The next logical step, officials said, is to retake Mosul,
Iraq’s second-largest city and the largest city that ISIL still controls.
It is a complicated step, the officials noted. Mosul is a
majority Sunni city with a significant Kurdish population. Before ISIL took the
city, there were about 2 million Iraqis living there. Officials estimate that
the civilian population has shrunk to just under a million -- still a
significant population.
ISIL has also had the time to put in place defenses.
Iraqi and Syrian forces have severed the links between
Raqqa, Syria -- ISIL’s so-called capital -- and Mosul. Coalition aerial assaults
have been successful in supporting indigenous forces and in killing or wounding
senior ISIL terrorists.
Training Continues
Coalition forces are also active in training Iraqi, Syrian
and peshmerga fighters. Coalition experts have trained more than 20,000 Iraqi
and peshmerga soldiers, and there are 3,782 currently being trained in five
sites around the country. Trainers come from the United States, Finland, the
United Kingdom, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain,
Australia, New Zealand, Denmark, Latvia, Belgium, France and Portugal.
This is Dunford’s fourth trip to Iraq since becoming
chairman in October. One constant in his trips is his emphasis on putting
pressure on ISIL across the board. Syrian and Iraqi military forces must attack
in both countries. Political, economic and diplomatic efforts must go
hand-in-hand with military operations.
(Follow Jim Garamone on Twitter: @GaramoneDoDNews)