Biden reassures Iraq prime minister after U.S. defence secretary remarks

By Jeff Mason WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President Joe Biden reassured Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi on Monday of the U.S. commitment to Iraq's fight against Islamic State militants after Defence Secretary Ash Carter questioned Iraqi troops' will to fight. Carter told CNN on Sunday that Iraqi forces showed no will to fight against Islamic State militants during the fall of Ramadi a week ago, and U.S. forces were trying to encourage them to engage more directly. Biden's call appeared to be a White House effort at damage control. He used the conversation to "reaffirm U.S. support for the Iraqi government's fight against ISIL," the White House said in a statement, referring to the group by an acronym. "The vice president recognised the enormous sacrifice and bravery of Iraqi forces over the past eighteen months in Ramadi and elsewhere," it said. In his comments to CNN on Sunday, Carter also said Iraqi forces were unsuccessful despite being more numerous than the militants. "The Iraqi forces just showed no will to fight," Carter told CNN's "State of the Union" programme. "They vastly outnumbered the opposing force and yet they withdrew from the site." Abadi, in an interview with the BBC, refuted Carter's remarks. "(Carter) was very supportive of Iraq and I am sure he was fed with the wrong information," Abadi said, according to the BBC website. He added that Iraqi forces will take back Ramadi "in days" despite being faced with attacks from Islamic State militants using "armoured trucks packed with explosives." Biden, in his conciliatory call, made specific reference to that tactic. "The vice president pledged full U.S. support in ... Iraqi efforts to liberate territory from ISIL, including the expedited provision of U.S. training and equipment to address the threat posed by ISIL's use of truck bombs," the statement said. (Reporting by Jeff Mason, editing by G Crosse)