Sen. John McCain, Arizona Republican, says the fall of Ramadi to terrorist fighters is ’unfortunately terribly significant’ and demonstrates the need for more ground troops in the region.
“It’s huge,” he said Monday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” “Now you’ve seen virtually everybody who has come talk … this morning have all said we need more boots on the ground. Not the 82nd Airborne, but we’re going to have to have more people on the ground, and this is really serious, the fall of Ramadi.”
Terrorist fighters took over the key Iraqi city Sunday, just one day after U.S. officials announced the killing of an Islamic State leader in Syria.
“We’re going to have to start all over, I think, on training the Iraqi military and have a kind of a change in attitude on the part of the Iraqis [that] makes them understand the importance of good leadership, good training, and that’s going to take, by the way, some American trainers,” said Mr. McCain, who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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