According to two senior U.S. defense officials who spoke to USA Today, it was a sandstorm that led Iraqi security forces to flee the town of Ramadi without putting up a fight against ISIS forces. Iraq’s forces reportedly had a 10-to-1 advantage over ISIS militants but a sandstorm led commanders to believe that U.S. forces would not be able to bomb ISIS targets. Without the guarantee of U.S. help, Iraqi forces then reportedly vacated their posts, leaving vehicles and weapons behind that were later claimed by ISIS.
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