Senior U.S. Officials Are Now Admitting That The U.S. Will Not Be Able To Defeat The Islamic State On The Ground

Eric Pianin, The Fiscal Times: Why a Military Victory Over ISIS Is Wishful Thinking

Senior administration officials have now issued two warnings over the past week that the war against ISIS is going badly and that President Obama’s initial vow to “degrade and ultimately destroy” the murderous jihadist forces in Iraq and Syria may just be a pipe dream.

First Defense Secretary Ashton Carter publicly berated Iraqi troops for lacking the “will to fight” ISIS and for retreating from a showdown in Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province where scores of U.S. troops gave their lives during the Iraq war.

“What apparently happened was that the Iraqi forces just showed no will to fight,” Carter told CNN’s “State of the Union” program a week ago. “They vastly outnumbered the opposing force. And yet they failed to fight.”

Update: CIA director on ISIS: "This is going to be a long fight" -- CBS

WNU Editor:  I agree with this analysis .... current policies to wage war against the Islamic State have failed .... a new strategy needs to be formulated.

Update #2: Some Iraqi leaders are now saying the same thing .... Iraqi leader of key Iran-backed militia: We won't be liberating Ramadi anytime soon (IBTimes).