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In this photo released on June 23, 2015, by a website of Islamic State militants, an Islamic State militant looks through the scope of his rifle in Kirkuk, northern Iraq. Though best known for its horrific brutalities — from its grotesque killings of captives to enslavement of women — the Islamic State group has proved to be a highly organized and flexible fighting force, according to senior Iraqi military and intelligence officials and Syrian Kurdish commanders on the front lines. (Militant website via AP)

Islamic State’s secret to its success: Shock troops who fight to the death

By Hamza Hendawi and Qassim Abdul-Zahra and Bassem Mroue - Associated Press

Arriving from Baghdad, federal police forces create a barricade to protect the Habaniyah military base near Ramadi, Iraq. (Associated Press) ** FILE **

Iraqi fighter jet accidentally drops bomb over Baghdad, kills 12 people

By Sinan Salaheddin - Associated Press

The Obama administration's posture is to avoid publicly criticizing Nouri al-Maliki's influence — mostly because he may re-emerge as the most powerful Shiite candidate when Iraqis return to the polls in 2018. Speaking out against Mr. al-Maliki may make future relations more difficult. (Associated Press)

Nouri al-Maliki undermines U.S. interests in Iraq, plots return to power

By Guy Taylor - The Washington Times

In this photo taken May 6, 2015, Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington. The Obama administration is nearing a decision on how to improve and accelerate training of Iraqi security forces in light of recent setbacks against the Islamic State, including the possibility of new training camps that likely would require a bigger U.S. troop presence, U.S. officials said Tuesday. Dempsey said he has recommended changes to President Barack Obama but he offered no assessment of when decisions would be made. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Martin Dempsey: New U.S. hub in Iraq could be model

By Robert Burns and Lolita C. Baldor - Associated Press

In this Dec. 2, 1998, file photo, former Iraqi foreign minister Tariq Aziz stands to attention as the Iraqi national anthem is played at a conference in Baghdad, Iraq. Officials say Aziz has died in a hospital in southern Iraq on Friday, June 5, 2015. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong, File)

Tariq Aziz, top aide to Saddam Hussein, dies at age 79

By Qassim Abdul-Zahra and Sameer N. Yacoub - Associated Press

Local residents and Sunni tribal fighters welcome newly arriving Iraqi Shiite Hezbollah Brigade militiamen, brandishing their flag, who are joining the fight against Islamic State group militants in Khalidiya, 100 kilometers (60 miles) west of Baghdad, Iraq. (AP Photo)

Iraq announces launch of operation to drive Islamic State from Anbar

By Sinan Salaheddin - Associated Press

Qassem Soleimani (AP, File)

Iraq, Iran push back on U.S. defense chief over Ramadi loss

By Sameer N. Yacoub and Nasser Karimi - Associated Press

Vice President Joe Biden talks with Iraq's Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi during a session of the U.S.-Iraq Higher Coordinating Committee, Thursday, April 16, 2015, in the Indian Treaty Room of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House complex in Washington. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) ** FILE **

Joe Biden tries to smooth over tensions with Baghdad

By Dave Boyer - The Washington Times

"Airstrikes are effective, but neither they, nor really anything we do, can substitute for the Iraqi forces' will to fight. They're the ones who [need] that to beat ISIL and then keep them beaten," Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said. (Associated Press)

Ashton Carter: Iraqi forces showed ‘no will to fight’ in Ramadi

By Tom Howell Jr. - The Washington Times

More than 140,000 Iraqi civilians have fled Ramadi, the capital of Iraq's Anbar province, located 70 miles west of Baghdad as Islamic State militants searched door to door for policemen and pro-government fighters and then threw their bodies in the Euphrates River in a bloody purge Monday. (Associated Press)

Islamic State’s Ramadi rout shows U.S. troops needed in Iraq, military experts say

By Rowan Scarborough - The Washington Times

Displaced Iraqis from Ramadi rest gather at the Bzebiz bridge after spending the night walking towards Baghdad, as they flee their hometown, 65 km west of Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, May 16, 2015. Islamic State militants seized the center of Ramadi in western Iraq and raised their black flag over the government compound, local officials said. (AP Photo/ Hadi Mizban)

Joe Biden promises Iraq heavy weapons after Islamic State takes most of Ramadi

Associated Press

Nineveh provincial governor Atheel al-Nujaifi said the U.S. will need to share military weaponry with Iraq's Sunni and Kurdish forces to help rout the Islamic State terror group. (Associated Press)

U.S. must alter arms flow to retake Mosul from Islamic State, Sunni lawmaker warns

By Guy Taylor - The Washington Times

People observe ancient artifacts at the Iraqi National Museum after its reopening in the wake of the recent destruction of Assyrian archaeological sites by the Islamic State group in Mosul, as they visit the museum in Baghdad in this Sunday, March 15, 2015, file photo. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim, File)

Iraq says Islamic State demolishes ruins to cover up looting operations

By Paul Schemm - Associated Press

Civilians and security forces inspect the scene of a car bomb explosion in Karrada neighborhood, Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, May 9, 2015. (Associated Press) ** FILE **

Iraq prison break: 40 inmates escape, 36 killed in Diyala province

Associated Press

President of the Kurdistan Regional Government Massoud Barzani (Associated Press) **FILE**

Masoud Barzani: Kurds will one day declare independence

By Guy Taylor - The Washington Times

CLARIFYING IDENTITY OF MAN. A member of the Iraqi security forces aims his weapon to attack Islamic State group militants on al-Houz bridge on the Euphrates river in Ramadi, 70 miles (115 kilometers) west of Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, April 24, 2015. Iraqi security forces recaptured a key bridge from Islamic militants in the capital of western Anbar on Friday, said an Iraqi security official, as top Shiite cleric renewed calls for national unity among political groups in the face of Islamic militant group. (AP Photo)

Car bombs driven by foreigners hit Iraq-Jordan border post

By SINAN SALAHEDDIN and SAMEER N. YACOUB - Associated Press

Nazhan Sakher, left, smokes a cigarette in the bedroom of the base on the frontline outside the city of Makhmour, northern Iraq, during a break in this Monday, April 20, 2015 photo. He leads a group of around 300 fighters from the al-Lehib tribe who have reluctantly allied with Iraqi troops and Kurdish forces to fight the Islamic State group — and fellow tribesmen who still support the extremists. (AP Photo/Bram Janssen)

Iraqi tribesmen fight their own after breaking with Islamic State group

By Bram Janssen and Sameer N. Yacoub - Associated Press

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, right, holds a new conference before leaving to the United States at Baghdad airport, Iraq, Monday, April 13, 2015. The prime minister is making an in-person appeal to President Barack Obama for more help in defeating the Islamic State militants, hoping recent gains in the fight fueled by U.S. airstrikes will encourage more investment from a war-weary United States. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)

Haider al-Abadi, Adel al-Jubeir spar over Yemen

By Guy Taylor - The Washington Times

This combination made from file photo shows Blackwater guards, from left, Dustin Heard, Evan Liberty, Nicholas Slatten and Paul Slough. (AP Photo)

4 former Blackwater security guards sentenced for Iraq shootings plan to appeal

By Sam Hananel - Associated Press

In this Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2015 image released by the Kurdistan Region Security Council (KRSC), Kurdish peshmerga forces prepare their positions on the front line for battle against Islamic State group positions in northern Iraq. Kurdish Regional Security Council said Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2015 that Kurdish peshmerga fighters launched a new offensive to secure areas southeast and southwest of the dam. (AP Photo/Kurdistan Region Security Council)

Iraqi Kurds ill-equipped to fight Islamic State, officials warn

By Rowan Scarborough - The Washington Times