“Washington, D.C. – The White House communications director said Wednesday the U.S. needs to “adapt our strategy” in the fight against ISIS, days after the key Iraqi city of Ramadi fell to ISIS.
Jen Psaki looked to steer the conversation away from Defense Secretary Ash Carter’s comments that Iraqi forces who fled from the ISIS attack on Ramadi “showed no will to fight.” Psaki didn’t disavow those remarks, but insisted the U.S. focus would remain on “equipping” and “training” Iraqi security forces to take on ISIS.
““They’ve taken on this fight, they’re continuing to, but we need to adapt our strategy too and adapt to the type of equipment that we’re providing as time goes on and as ISIS adapts,” Psaki told Chris Cuomo on CNN’s “New Day.” The Iraqi forces that retreated in the face of an ISIS offensive on Ramadi “vastly outnumbered” the jihadist assailants and had been trained by U.S. military advisers stationed in Iraq, Carter told CNN’s Barbara Starr this weekend.
“Psaki said Carter’s comments are “consistent with what he was seeing and hearing from the ground,” but looked to put the “will to fight” issue in the past. “I think we’ve seen some issues in the past,” she said when pressed on that question. “There are going to be ups and downs here and we need to continue to adapt.”
Psaki’s comments also included a newly-formed strategy of motivating Iraqi troops that the White House has come up with. Speaking exclusively to Newslo, Psaki said that motivation is “the key to every activity in life, including waking up in the morning, as well as the most challenging ones, such as risking one’s life in a war.”
“Because of that, the White House has come up with the idea of offering 72 Western virgins to every single Iraqi soldier willing to stand and fight ISIS regardless of the risk for their life. The administration feels that this is the best way to motivate soldiers to stand their ground and resist the terror of ISIS,” Psaki said.
She added: “The Iraqis are thrilled with such an idea and have already agreed to it, even though nothing has been made official yet. The biggest problem now is finding thousands of Western virgins, since there almost aren’t any these days.”
