U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter has made a surprise visit to Baghdad to assess the campaign against the Islamic State.
He has met with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and underscored the need for capable Iraqi ground forces to battle the Islamic State, known as Daesh in Arabic.
"We will defeat Daesh because civilization always wins over barbarity. But to defeat Daesh we need capable ground forces that we can enable and support and we will. And getting those forces in turn requires inclusive governance."
During Carter's visit, the US military has announced that Iraq has for the first time deployed soldiers trained by the U.S.-led coalition in their campaign to retake the city of Ramadi from IS militants.
A Pentagon spokesman says the roughly 3,000 coalition-trained soldiers joined the Ramadi operation in recent days.
The Islamic State seized Ramadi, capital of Iraq's largest province of Anbar, two months ago, extending its control in the west of Baghdad and dealing a major setback to the Iraqi army and U.S.-backed allies.
U.S. President Barack Obama responded last month by ordering 450 more U.S. troops to set up at Taqaddum base, which is only about 25 km from Ramadi.
One of the goals of a new U.S. deployment to Taqaddum is to encourage Sunni tribes to join the battle against the Islamic State.
Carter says he will also meet Sunni leaders during his trip to Iraq.
