Washington (CNN)Defense Secretary Ash Carter, in his first comments since the ke

y town of Ramadi fell to ISIS, blamed the weak state of Iraq's military as one m
ajor reason for the city's fall, in an exclusive interview on CNN's "State of th
e Union" aired Sunday.
"What apparently happened was that the Iraqi forces just showed no will to fight
," Carter told CNN's Barbara Starr. "They were not outnumbered. In fact, they va
stly outnumbered the opposing force, and yet they failed to fight, they withdrew
from the site, and that says to me, and I think to most of us, that we have an
issue with the will of the Iraqis to fight ISIL and defend themselves."
Carter's remarks are the strongest yet from any Obama administration official sp
eaking on the record since the last week's events when Ramadi fell. The U.S. has
sped up the shipment of some arms to help boost Iraqi forces as ISIS has recent
ly taken more territory, but the U.S. defense chief said Iraq's military needs t
o step up.