Report: Iraqi Army Even Worse Than Previously Thought

NBC Chief Foreign Correspondent Richard Engel and NBC Chief Pentagon Correspondent Jim Miklaszewski reported that the Iraqi Army has been worse at fighting ISIS than the US military previously thought on Tuesday’s “Daily Rundown” on MSNBC.

“One of the most disconcerting thing[s] to the US military is, they have discovered now, as ISIS advances throughout the Anbar Province, that the Iraqi military is even less capable than they had first estimated” Miklaszewski said.

Engel agreed, adding “a lot of ISIS’ strength comes from the weakness of the armies that it is facing, and the Iraqi army is proving to be incredibly weak. The Iraq military pulled out yesterday from a military base in Heet, which is in Anbar Province. The military said it was a tactical withdrawal, better to leave the base, take the weapons, than have ISIS take over, slaughter the Iraqi troops inside, and capture their weapons. But the fact that yet another Iraqi base felt that it couldn’t stand up to ISIS is not a good sign. It’s not a good sign that the logistics are there, not a good sign that the Iraqi army has great confidence in its abilities.”

He also reported that in Baghdad “there is not a great deal of panic” and that the individuals he talked to “feel that ISIS is still sufficiently far away, not to pose an imminent threat to the city.” According to Engel, US military officials believe “it is possible that ISIS could try to launch some sort of foray to Baghdad, try and capture a neighborhood, even hold it for an hour or two, raise a flag and have a psychological impact.”

Both Engel and Miklaszewski also discussed a report by Reuters that Turkey had bombed Kurdish militants in Turkey.

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