Iraq has momentum in battle with Islamic State: Central Command

The chief of Central Command public affairs said Friday that the mission to train and equip Iraqi soldiers is giving local forces the momentum they need to ultimately defeat the Islamic State, despite reports that locals are fleeing Ramadi as terrorist forces move into the city.

Col. Pat Ryder told reporters that more than 6,000 Iraqi soldiers have graduated from the training program as of Thursday and nearly 5,000 are currently in the training pipeline.

“If you compare last summer to where we are now in terms of the Iraqi Security Forces, I think clearly you see that the momentum is in Iraq’s favor in terms of their forces,” he said. “I know we still have a long way to go, but my understanding is the training programs have been very effective so far.”

As more forces graduate, the Iraqi Security Forces will only get more confident and effective in the fight, he said.

More broadly, amid reports that Ramadi is about to fall to the Islamic State and terrorist forces have infiltrated an oil refinery in Baiji, Col. Ryder said the fight against the terrorist group, also known as ISIS or ISIL, is going as Americans expected.

“We are where we thought we would be at about this point in the execution of the military campaign to degrade, dismantle and ultimately defeat ISIL,” he said. “As the fighting near Baiji and Ramadi this week has demonstrated, this remains a very tough fight.”