Defense Sec Says Iraqi Soldiers Have No Will To Fight

WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Ash Carter says the Islamic State group's takeover of Ramadi is evidence that Iraqi forces do not have the "will to fight."

In an unusually candid assessment, Carter says Iraqi forces vastly outnumbered the opposition in Ramadi, but failed to fight and pulled back from the provincial capital in central Iraq.

Carter says the United States can provide training, weapons and air support in the fight against the Islamic State extremists. But he says the Iraqi forces will have to show a willingness to fight for their country.

Carter made his comments in an interview that aired Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union."

Hakim al-Zamili, the head of Iraq's parliamentary defense and security committee, calls Carter's comments "unrealistic and baseless."

He said the U.S. should bear much of the blame for the fall of Ramadi for failure to provide "good equipment, weapons and aerial support" to the soldiers. Now he says the U.S. military is seeking to "throw the blame on somebody else."