translator: the city of ramadi has been liberated. reporter: u.s.-led coalition air strikes aided newly trained iraqi forces who called in isis targets. today, the coalition, though not ready to declare the city liberated, called the success a proud moment for iraq. the iraqi forces is made great progress over the last week or so. reporter: the celebrations could be short-lived. pockets of resistance remain along with hundreds of explosives planted by the terror group. still unclear whether iraqi forces can hold the city and stop shia militias who were not included in the operation from reigniting sectarian tensions. needs to be an inclusive governmental approach. iraqi forces need to show that they re committed to the process. reporter: retaking the capital and largest population center of the predominantly sunni anbar province, a strategic and symbolic victory for the iraqi army.
having a couple thousand ground troops as advisers and having iraqis win the fight against isis is a symbolic victory and positive sign. it s cautious optimism. as we know, isis wants a caliphate. they want to own territory and to lure in american forces on the ground to fight us in the open. what we have is boots on the ground. it takes the iraqi military to win the fight on the battlefield and show they re not deterred and will press on. and with the help of advisers and air power, we can help sometimy that supply line that leads stymie that supply line that leads to syria syria and the front that isis partially controls. and the retaking of ramadi is a rare bright spot for the obama administration in the battle against isis. ads jim acosta reports, many americans are losing faith in the president s strategy. [ gunfire ] reporter: with the u.s.-led coalition at war with isis half a world away, president obama just got a fresh reminder during
a major blow against isis. iraqi forces say they ve captured ramadi. isis had controlled the strategic city west of baghdad for almost seven month. it was a scene of brutal fighting in the last few days. now iraqi troops have raised their flag in the city center and declared victory. some pockets of isis fighters remain. a spokesman says it may take up to three weeks to push them out. as troops celebrate their first major win against isis, the country s leaders are voiing to fight on to other vowing to fight on to other terrorist strongholds. now a look at the capture of ramadi. reporter: declaring victory in ramadi. video broadcast by iraqi state tv shows soldiers raising their national flag over the city s government compound, celebrating the iraqi military s first major victory over the so-called islamic state. translator: ramadi has been freed, and the armed forces and
battle is not over yet adding more work needs to be done to clear the crucial city. brianna? jim accoosta traveling with e president. andre carson of indiana, congressman, thanks so much for being with us and i want to hear what you think about certainly you see those poll numbers and i wonder if you think that the president has had the right messaging, the right tone, the right strategy when it comes to the threat from isis. i think so. i think the president has been very introspective and looking at tightening internal controls within administration and the intelligence apparatus. i will say that the work that we ve done in the region has been proven to be successful as we ve seen. there is still much more work to do as we ve heard from iraqi officials in terms of clearing the certain areas within the city as it were, looking for land mines and bombs placed in
too cocky. and i ve experienced this with the iraqi army and the iraqi government before. they ve got to clear a bunch of other cities in mosul of isis i m sorry, in anbar, before they even think about going to mosul. and then when they do think about going to mosul, you re talking about more generation of forces. over the last nine months the iraqi security forces have generated about 15,000 under the guidance of army u.s. military trainers. they need a lot more of that when they start heading toward mosul. they also have to establish some bases on the way. bob, how important do you think this victory is? well, brianna, i think it s very important. i agree with general hertling. you know, this is a big breakthrough for the iraqi army. they ve taken back a town apparently without militias. and we have to look what ramadi stands for. it s the tribal capital of iraq or the sunni tribal capital. but really what s important is