Washington (AFP) - President Barack Obama's war strategy failed to stop Islamic State jihadists from overrunning Ramadi but he appears reluctant to change course despite the group's advances on the battlefield.The disastrous fall of the Iraqi city exposed the limits of Obama's policy, experts say, highlighting the sectarian divisions in Iraqi society exploited by the IS group and the American president's determination to avoid another protracted military occupation. After the Iraqi army's embarrassing rout on Sunday, Obama struggled to defend his approach and insisted the collapse in Ramadi was merely a "tactical setback.""I don't think we're losing," Obama said in an interview with The Atlantic.Obama said the question was not whether or not to send in US ground troops but "how do we find effective partners" that can defeat the Sunni extremists in Iraq and Syria.But, even inside his administration, the result in Ramadi was seen as damaging for both the Iraqi government and the US-led coalition backing it with air strikes since late last year.Only days after Ramadi was overrun, the jihadists also seized the ancient city of Palmyra in Syria as well as a key border crossing, undercutting weeks of optimistic talk from the Pentagon that the extremists were "on the defensive."With IS still on the move after more than 4,000 US-led air strikes in nine months in Iraq and Syria, the administration was taking a "hard look" at its strategy, a top US official told reporters.- More commandos?
Obama Stays The Course Despite Is Group's Advance
Dan De Luce, Business Insider
Fri, 05/22/2015 - 11:59pm
Topics: washington afp president barack obama islamic state atlantic palmyra with is us-led more in at4 american-led us-equipped senator john mccain mccain richard haas kurdish shiite council foreign relations humpty dumpty bloomberg lying the anthony cordesman center strategic international studies east but white house washington obama ramadi iraq american sunni syria us mccain cordesman group's advance strategy troops forces war air government administration jihadists military strikes local losing effort special bolder power stance senior city divisions occupation officials major diplomatic coalition result commandos backing omission move extremists ground urged time working told said."the week
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