U.S. Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter has criticized the Iraqi military response to the threat of the Islamic State. File Photo by Keizo Mori/UPI | License Photo

WASHINGTON, May 24 (UPI) -- Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter said the Islamic State's capture of the city of Ramadi illustrates that the Iraqi military lacks the will to fight.

"What apparently happened was that the Iraqi forces just showed no will to fight," Carter told CNN. "They were not outnumbered. In fact, they vastly outnumbered the opposing force, and yet they failed to fight, they withdrew from the site, and that says to me, and I think to most of us, that we have an issue with the will of the Iraqis to fight [the Islamic State] and defend themselves."


The Islamic State capture of Ramadi and of the Syrian city of Palmyra last week have led to increased criticism of the White House's response to the militant Islamist threat. Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., has called for 10,000 ground combat troops to enter Iraq.

The fall of Ramadi and Palmyra has been called a "setback" by the Obama administration -- a temporary defeat and that will not change the White House's strategy of fighting the Islamic State.

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The Obama administration rejects the use of U.S. ground combat troops in the fight against the Islamic State, instead supporting a strategy of air strikes and strategic special operation missions to kill or capture key militant leaders.

There are about 3,000 U.S. military personnel training Iraqi forces, but not near combat zones.

"We can give them training, we can give them equipment -- we obviously can't give them the will to fight," Carter said of the Iraqi forces. "But if we give them training, we give them equipment, and give them support, and give them some time, I hope they will develop the will to fight, because only if they fight can [the Islamic State] remain defeated."

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The city of Husayba, east of Ramadi, was captured by the militant group on Saturday.

"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. But what happened in Ramadi was a failure of the Iraqi forces to fight," Carter reiterated.