Carter arrives in Baghdad on surprise visit

U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter arrived unannounced in Baghdad on Thursday to assess the government's progress in healing the country's sectarian divisions and hear the latest on support for the Iraqi army's coming attempt to recapture the key city of Ramadi from Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

It is Carter's first visit to Iraq since he took office in February, and came hours after at least four explosions in separate areas of Baghdad killed at least 37 people, according to police. ISIL has threatened to carry out more attacks in the city but most recent blasts have not been claimed.

Carter is not expected to announce any major change in U.S. strategy or increase in U.S. troop levels. The approximately 3,360 troops now in Iraq are largely involved in training Iraqi troops, advising Iraqi commanders on battle plans, and providing security for U.S. personnel and facilities. The U.S., joined by several coalition partners, also is conducting airstrikes daily to chip away at ISIL's grip on large parts of Iraq.

The visit, however, comes at an important moment for the Iraqi government, which has announced a counteroffensive to retake Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province. The actual assault on the city has not yet begun, but a Pentagon spokesman, Army Col. Steve Warren, said it could start within several weeks.

The Ramadi campaign will be a crucial test not only for the Iraqi government led by Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, but also for the U.S. strategy of relying on Iraqi security forces, operating in coordination with U.S.-led coalition airstrikes, to overcome ISIL forces. President Barack Obama has opted not to commit U.S. ground combat forces to Iraq, saying the only lasting solution is for Iraq to fight for itself.

American military leaders have said they would recommend to Obama that he approve moving U.S. military advisers and perhaps special operations forces closer to the front lines if they believed it would make a decisive difference at certain stages of the Iraqi campaign. But Warren said no such recommendation has yet been made. Obama's critics in Congress complain that he is missing an opportunity to swiftly defeat ISIL by not sending U.S. ground combat troops or at least placing military advisers with Iraqi units to make them more effective.

Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who visited Iraq last weekend, supports Obama's approach. He told a congressional hearing July 7 that he realizes ISIL's threat to the United States “could increase” as a result of what he called a patient U.S. approach in Iraq and Syria.

Al Jazeera with The Associated Press