Iraqi forces are months away from being able to start waging any kind of sustained ground offensive against ISIS and any similar effort in Syria will take longer, officials at the U.S. military's Central Command said Thursday.



Iraq's main military divisions in Anbar -- the seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth and twelfth -- have been badly damaged.



Asked about whether U.S. military advisers in Iraq might head to Anbar, the first official acknowledged discussions were underway broadly about efforts to enable the Iraqis "as far forward as we can" but did not disclose details.



Much of the timing in Syria is wrapped up in a planned training mission for U.S.-backed forces whose first goal, one official said, would be defensive -- to ensure more towns do not fall.

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