Coalition pledges to stand by 'winning' strategy in Iraq despite setbacks

WASHINGTON — The U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State militants said Tuesday it has a winning plan in Iraq despite recent setbacks, including the fall of Ramadi last month.

"In Iraq right now, we have the right strategy," said Tony Blinken, deputy secretary of State. He led a U.S. delegation to the Paris conference after Secretary of State John Kerry fractured his leg in a bicycle accident in France over the weekend.

The coalition met in Paris as Iraqi security forces attempted to retake Ramadi, a key Sunni city west of Baghdad that fell to Islamic State militants.

The Islamic State also has made significant inroads in neighboring Syria, where militants seized the ancient city of Palmyra last month and advanced on Aleppo, Syria's largest city.

The 25 nations offered few specifics after their conference and indicated no major strategy shift.

The United States recently rushed 2,000 AT-4 anti-tank missiles to Iraq and promised to ease the process for getting ammunition and weapons to Iraq's armed forces.

The Pentagon has said it is examining ways to boost support to Sunni tribes, which fought the militants in Ramadi, and to improve the training of Iraq's armed forces, which were routed by the militants despite a sizable advantage in numbers.

The United States has about 3,000 troops in Iraq, including trainers, but they are barred from combat roles.

Marie Harf, a State Department spokeswoman, said the coalition is exploring ways to boost intelligence sharing on the enemy's movements.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi made an urgent plea at the conference for more help in his country's battle against the Islamic State, also known as ISIL or ISIS.

Al-Abadi said his military desperately needs weapons, which are slow to arrive from the United States because of bureaucratic delays. "Armament and ammunition, we haven't seen much. Almost none. We're relying on ourselves, but fighting is very hard this way," al-Abadi said, according to the Associated Press.

The coalition's strategy depends on Iraq's armed forces taking the lead in fighting the militants while the United States and its allies provide training and target the militants with airstrikes. The coalition has conducted more than 2,600 airstrikes in Iraq since the campaign began last August.

"In Iraq right now, we have the right strategy: a combination of coalition airstrikes, training, equipping, assisting and effective local partners," Blinken said. "That is the winning strategy, but only if both sides of the equation are present."

In Syria, which in the midst of a 4-year-old civil war, the United States is conducting airstrikes aimed at the Islamic State and attempting to build a moderate opposition force against the militants.

Pressure is growing on the Obama administration to take stronger action in Iraq. Lindsey Graham, a Republican presidential candidate, has suggested a force of 10,000 U.S. troops to speed up the training of Iraqi troops.

Lawmakers have called for delivering arms directly to Sunni tribes and Kurdish forces. The U.S. strategy centers on working through the central government.

Michael Knights, an analyst at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said elements within the administration argue for taking stronger action in Iraq, but President Obama strongly opposes any steps that would expose U.S. forces to combat.

Knights said embedding special operations teams in the field with Iraqi battalions and brigades would provide for more targeted airstrikes and make the Iraqi military more effective.

By barring U.S. forces from the field of combat, the administration is pursuing an overly cautious approach that is not proving effective, Knights said. "We need to get in the game."