During President Obama’s press conference in Germany, he admitted that the military coalition needs to increase the speed of training Iraqi forces to combat ISIS.
Obama said that the United States was “reviewing a range of plans” for how to accelerate and recruit additional Iraqi forces, but that it would take time.
“When a finalized plan is presented to me by the Pentagon I will share it with the American people,” he said. “We don’t yet have a complete strategy because it requires commitments on the part of the Iraqis as well – about how recruitment takes place, how that training takes place and so the details of that have not been worked out.”
Obama’s comments on the matter was the first sign that the administration is working on a “surge” of sorts to step up the fight against ISIS as a result of recent setbacks in areas including Ramadi.
Obama admitted that ISIS had become “nimble, aggressive, and opportunistic” in the ongoing fight in Iraq and Syria, but says part of the problem is that it was difficult to find recruits willing to fight the terrorist element.
Another problem Obama cited, was “stemming the flow of foreign fighters” across the borders of Syria and Iraq – especially between the borders of Turkey and Syria.
“This is something that I think we’ve got to spend a lot of time on,” he asserted. “If we can cut off some of that foreign fighter flow, then we’re able to isolate and wear out ISIL forces that are already there.”
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