![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635626323666089374-mideast-iraq-weigjpg.jpg\")
A U.S. soldier trains an Iraqi security forces member in a March 21 shooting drill in Taji, north of Baghdad, Iraq.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n Photo Credit: Karim Kadim\/AP<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Iraqi military has struggled to recover from its collapse in June when the Islamic State group captured country’s second-largest city, Mosul, and swept over much of northern Iraq. In the face of the advance, commanders disappeared. Pleas for more ammunition went unanswered. In some cases, soldiers stripped off their uniforms and ran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Twelve U.S. advisory teams had been operating in Iraq since August, stationed in joint operations centers in Baghdad and Irbil, as well as in some of the outer provinces, including volatile Anbar province, which has been under partial control of the militant group since early 2014.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Iraqi military \u2014 backed by at least 20,000 Shiite militiamen \u2014 is fighting to regain control of Saddam Hussein’s hometown of Tikrit, one of several predominantly Sunni towns to fall to the militants last year. It’s one of the first major operations in which the U.S.-led coalition is not taking part, with U.S. officials saying they weren’t ask to participate. Iranian advisers have played a prominent role on the front lines of Iraq’s Salahuddin province.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If Iraqi forces are unable to push IS back and recover lost territory, Obama would be faced with a choice of accepting failure in Iraq or committing U.S. combat troops \u2014 something both U.S. and Iraqi officials have spoken firmly against.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “The soldiers now are absolutely eager to learn, their leaders eager to learn,” said Lt. Col. John Schwemmer of the 5th Squadron, 73rd Calvary. “They are eager to get on the training lanes that we have here, to learn the skill they need to go against the enemy.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Iraqi security forces participate in a March 21 drill as U.S. forces train them in Taji, north of Baghdad, Iraq.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n Photo Credit: Karim Kadim\/AP<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n At the Salahuddin command center at Tikrit University, ambulances come and go with a handful of Iraqisoldiers, injured in clashes with the Islamic State group. Operations to recapture Tikrit have been on hold for nearly a week, with Iraqi officials saying they’re trying to minimize casualties by not rushing the final assault.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the provincial military headquarters, Iraqi soldiers sleep four to a room and pass the downtime by playing backgammon or volleyball \u2014 no soccer fields are available \u2014 or by listening to music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Many of the young men fighting alongside the Shiite militias, known locally as Popular Mobilization Units, joined the battle last year when Iraq’s most revered Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, called upon Iraqis to defend their nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While the U.S. has been working to train Iraqi military brigades, it has not worked with the militias, since doing so would bring them uncomfortably close to Iran, which offers significant assistance to the various militias.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n CIA director John Brennan said having the leader of Iran’s elite Quds Force direct Iraqi forces against the IS militants is complicating the U.S. mission. In an interview with “Fox News Sunday,” Brennan described Gen. Qassem Soleimani as being “very aggressive and active” in advising the Shiite militias, adding that he “wouldn’t consider Iran an ally right now inside Iraq.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some of the militia fighters had previously served with the Iraqi armed forces, but many have no previous combat experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Across the grounds of the university-turned-command center, several bodies lay decomposing on the pavement. The unburied corpses are allegedly of Islamic State militants, and senior military officials say they are kept there to raise fighter morale and remind them of victories past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The men carry their weapons wherever they go \u2014 the mess hall, the latrine, even to bed. They realize their opponent has launched surprise attacks in the past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “My wife and my kids were crying when I left, but I told them I am not afraid,” said Amjad Ali Karim, a 31-year-old member of the militias. “I’m trying not to think of how many days are passing because then it will cause me extreme grief.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Abdul-Zahra reported from Tikrit, Iraq.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As the U.S. mission to Iraq expands, so do its efforts to arm and train the country’s security forces to combat the Islamic State group, with large-scale operations continuing to recapture territory from the Sunni militants.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":96870,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[15,88],"tags":[],"coauthors":[444,2945],"class_list":["post-100686","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-your-military"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"FFEB5BJQHVBIHM6JRTGJEP5OCE","arc_canonical_url":"\/2015\/03\/22\/u-s-trains-iraqi-forces-as-battle-for-tikrit-continues\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635626323650645176-mideast-iraq-weig-1-jpg.jpg\")