Iraqi forces score important victory with Ramadi recapture

GWEN IFILL:

Now to the fight against ISIS and the fate of a key city, Ramadi.

Chief foreign affairs correspondent Margaret Warner begins with this report.

MARGARET WARNER:

It was a triumphant tour for the Iraqi prime minister. Today, Haider al-Abadi planted his country's flag in the city after government troops retook its center.

HAIDER AL-ABADI, Prime Minister, Iraq (voice of interpreter):

ISIS said they would fight in Ramadi, but they felt afraid. They didn't fight. They fled, and many of them were killed.

MARGARET WARNER:

It was a seven-month slog to this day. Islamic State militants had captured Ramadi, capital of the majority Sunni Anbar province, in May.

After encircling Ramadi for weeks, last week, Iraqi forces, backed by U.S.-led coalition airstrikes, finally launched an assault into the city. And over the weekend, they made a final push to seize its central administration complex.

Yesterday, troops celebrated as they raised the Iraqi flag above the key government building.

Today, speaking from Baghdad, U.S. Army Colonel Steve Warren underscored the role of U.S.-led airpower in retaking the city.

COL. STEVE WARREN, Spokesman, Combined Joint Task Force:

I would agree that probably 80 percent of the effort in Ramadi was due to coalition airstrikes. This is significant. And this is what really facilitated or enabled the Iraqi forces to move in. It's using that airpower as the force multiplier that it really can be.

MARGARET WARNER:

Warren also told reporters that airstrikes over the past month have killed 10 Islamic State leaders. Several of them were linked to the deadly attacks in Paris, and one had direct ties to the ringleader of the November 13 rampage.

Back in Ramadi, there is much work left to do. Iraqi forces have cleared the areas shown here in green, but militants remain in other parts of the city. Indeed, Abadi and his convoy were forced to leave one section of Ramadi after mortar rounds landed nearby. Explosives also must be removed from streets and buildings.

Warren declined to predict how long that would take.

GWEN IFILL:

Now we get the view from Iraq with Wall Street Journal reporter Matt Bradley in Baghdad. I spoke with him earlier today.

Matt Bradley, thank you for joining us.

So, this victory which people have been talking about as being imminent for several days, how significant is that it was accomplished without the help of Kurdish or Shiite militia?

MATT BRADLEY, The Wall Street Journal:

Well, this was a — this moment, this victory, as you described it, is really vindicating for the Iraqi military, and not just for the Iraqi military, but also for Prime Minister Haider Abadi and his partners in the United States.

So, this is really — as Haider al-Abadi said, this is really sort of paving the way toward Mosul, which will be a much, much more difficult fight.

GWEN IFILL:

You mentioned Haider al-Abadi, the prime minister. He made kind of a victory lap through Ramadi today. How unusual was that and how well was it received?

MATT BRADLEY:

Well, he's been trying to do that.

Haider al-Abadi, of course, like any politician, likes to get his picture in the right place at the right time. So this was not unusual for him. However, there were some rumors that were circulating this afternoon that his convoy had actually come under fire from some missiles from the enemy.

However, that was really denied. That wasn't the case at all.

But it just goes to show just how dangerous this situation is and the kind of target that he makes. He really is caught between the Islamic State on one side and the Shiite militia groups, who were very resentful that they weren't included in the fight for Ramadi.

GWEN IFILL:

So, in this victory we have, have Iraqi troops improved on their performance and, if so, how?

MATT BRADLEY:

Yes, one of the things that the Iraqi troops were able to do in Ramadi that they were not able to do in previous battles was the combined use of different tactics.

They were able to call in airstrikes from the coalition and from Iraq's military at the right time for the right targets. They were able to combine the use of sort of amphibious assaults when they erected this bridge downriver from Ramadi in order to surprise the enemy from the south.

So they have been able to create a combined assault, which is sort of a lofty military theory that a lot of these Iraqi soldiers hadn't been exposed to until U.S. training just this past summer.

GWEN IFILL:

What effect does it have on morale, not only for Iraqi citizens, but also for the Iraqi military?

MATT BRADLEY:

Well, every victory that happens in this battle is a strategic victory, because what we're talking about, what the Iraqi troops really lack is morale, is this esprit de corps, is this feeling that they're defending a nation, that their nation is grateful, that it's worth saving and that their victories are not going to be usurped or eclipsed by those of the Shiite militias or the Peshmerga.

So, really, this is a huge moment, because this is the first time that the Iraqi military has really achieved a victory against the Islamic State. Up until now, it's only been embarrassing defeats for the Iraqi military.

GWEN IFILL:

And, Matt, there has been some talk that the next goal is Mosul, which seems a far more difficult target. Is that realistic?

MATT BRADLEY:

Well, it's not really realistic at this present moment.

Mosul is several times the size of Ramadi. It's the second largest city in Iraq. It's Islamic State's de facto capital in this country. There is a huge number of civilians still in the city and there's a lot of civilians who have some amount of affection or support for Islamic State.

So, the Mosul fight will not be nearly as easy as the Ramadi fight, and the Ramadi fight wasn't easy at all, so, really, it's just going to get only more difficult.

GWEN IFILL:

Matt Bradley reporting for us tonight from Baghdad for The Wall Street Journal, thank you so much.

MATT BRADLEY:

Thanks.