Washington: The Islamic State taking control of Ramadi, capital of Iraq's largest province, is "indeed a setback" in the campaign against the terrorist outfit, the White House said as it vowed to help the Iraqi forces to reverse the IS gains.
"Ramadi has been contested over the last 18 months. We've always known the fight against ISIL would be long and difficult, particularly in Anbar Province.
"There's no denying that this is, indeed, a setback. But there's also no denying that we will help the Iraqis take back Ramadi," White House Deputy Press Secretary Eric Schultz said, using an alternative acronym for the IS or the ISIS.
Washington: US President Barack Obama is being kept up to date on the situation in Ramadi, he said.
"We are supporting the Iraqi security forces and the government of Iraq with precision airstrikes and advice to the Iraqi forces. Our aircraft are in the air right now and searching for ISIL targets.
"They will continue to do so until Ramadi is retaken," he said yesterday.
Schultz said 32 airstrikes have been conducted in Ramadi in the past three weeks, including eight over the past 24 hours and these strikes will be continuing.
"ISIL will ultimately be defeated in Ramadi and elsewhere in Iraq because we believe that Iraqi forces have the capacity to ultimately take Ramadi with coalition support," he said.
The Pentagon yesterday exuded confidence that Iraqi forces will regain control of Ramadi.
"To read too much into this is a mistake. This is one fight, one episode, in which Iraqi security forces were not able to prevail ? today," Pentagon spokesperson Col Steve Warren said.
"Our strategy is simply that we - the coalition and Iraqi partners - now have to go back and retake Ramadi," he said.
US Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham in a joint statement said the black flags of ISIL flying over Ramadi, the capital of Iraq's Anbar Province is a "sad reminder of this administration's indecisive air campaign in Iraq and Syria and a broader lack of strategy to achieve its stated objective of degrading and destroying the ISIL".
"Today, Secretary of State John Kerry called Ramadi a mere 'target of opportunity', never mind the countless Iraqis slaughtered in the aftermath of the city's fall. The fall of Ramadi, despite Administration statements to the contrary, is a significant defeat," they said.
The prominent role of these militias continues to feed the perception of a Baghdad government unable or unwilling to protect Sunnis, they said.
