Kenney says Iraqi military needs 'to do better' in Islamic State fight

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Defence Minister Jason Kenney calls the loss of the Iraqi city of Ramadi to Islamic State forces "a wake-up call" and says the Iraqi military needs "to do better," joining a chorus of complaints from Western allies frustrated by Baghdad's hapless soldiering.

His remarks came one day after U.S. Secretary of Defence Ashton Carter harshly criticized Iraqi forces for their rout at the hands of the jihadis. Mr. Carter's unusually blunt statement set off sharp words between partners and temporary allies in the fight against Islamic State as they confronted a series of advances by the terrorist group.

It was left to U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden to try to smooth things over.

In comments aired Sunday, Mr. Carter told CNN's State of the Union that while Iraqi soldiers "vastly outnumbered" the enemy in Ramadi they nevertheless "showed no will to fight" the jihadis.

On Monday, the United Kingdom echoed Mr. Carter's irritation, with British Army Major General Tim Cross telling BBC Radio 4's Today program there was no "cohesion, there's no strong leadership" on the part of the Iraqis.

The exasperation aired by the Americans, British and Canadians comes as Islamic State fighters show remarkable resilience in the face of a U.S.-led campaign of air strikes. A stronger ground game is now needed than what Baghdad can offer.

It was the discredited Iraqi Army's collapse last year, despite a decade of American funding, that enabled Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, to seize one-third of Iraq.

Iraq pushed back Monday, unwilling to accept what it was hearing. A spokesman for Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi suggested Mr. Carter had "incorrect information" and later expressed surprise at the friendly fire from Washington. "We should not judge the whole army based on one incident," Saad al-Hadithi, representative for Mr. al-Abadi, said.

Iran joined in as well. General Qassim Soleimani, the head of the elite Quds forces in Iran's Revolutionary Guard, pointed fingers at the Americans. In Iran, the daily newspaper Javan, which is seen as close to the Revolutionary Guard, quoted Gen. Soleimani as saying the U.S. didn't do a "damn thing" to stop the extremists' advance on Ramadi.

Mr. Biden tried to soothe matters Monday, phoning Mr. al-Abadi to offer thanks, instead of criticism, for "the enormous sacrifice and bravery of Iraqi forces."

Baghdad has said preparations are under way to launch a large-scale counteroffensive in Anbar province, home to Ramadi, involving Iranian-backed Shiite militias. However, that possibility has sparked fears of sectarian violence in the Sunni province, long the scene of protests and criticism against the Shiite-led government in Baghdad.

Canada's military intervention in Iraq is focused in large part on the semi-autonomous Kurdish region, where peshmerga fighters are better trained and more capable than many Iraqi government forces. But success in Iraq nevertheless depends on Baghdad.

A senior Obama administration official, speaking ahead of the announcement of Mr. Biden's call, said "we know the Iraqi retreat followed an intense wave of suicide bombings." It was an acknowledgment of the challenges Baghdad is struggling to address.

Mr. Kenney said that Ottawa won't be increasing its military aid for Iraq.

"We have decided not to provide larger-scale training in other regions of Iraq. We think we are actually contributing above our weight and other countries have chosen to make their training focus the Iraqi army in southern Iraq and elsewhere."

Mr. Kenney says the Conservative government is content with the deployment of 69 Canadian special forces soldiers to advise Kurdish fighters as well as a handful of fighter jets that are launching air strikes and two surveillance planes mapping the battle scene.

"There is no doubt that if Canada and other allies had not brought force to bear against ISIL that it would have possessed far more territory than it currently does in Iraq," Mr. Kenney said.

Canada's military aid to Iraq and Syria will cost more than half a billion dollars by next March, the government has said.

With a report from The Associated Press