RAMSTEIN AIR BASE –
On his third trip in seven weeks to U.S. Central Command’s
area of responsibility, Centcom’s commander said today, he aims to strengthen
relations with partners there and gain a deeper understanding of the region’s
complexities.
During a refueling stop here on the way to the Middle East,
Army Gen. Joseph L. Votel told reporters traveling with him that visits to the
AOR since he took command March 30 have focused on three objectives he wants to
achieve early on.
“First and foremost is getting out and getting a much more
detailed understanding of the complexities of the region,” he said, including
“the perspectives of our partners out here.”
His second objective is to strengthen and nourish the
relationships Centcom has with its partners in the region, Votel said.
“We don't do anything by ourselves here, so it is
extraordinarily important to meet face to face with all our partners, discuss
our goals and objectives here and reinforce what has in many cases been very
longstanding and very good military-to-military relationships in the area,” the
general said.
Third, he added, his trips offer a chance to learn how
Centcom headquarters can be more responsive to forces and components operating
in the area, and to partners and leaders in Washington with regard to what’s
happening in the Centcom region.
ISIL’s Terrorist Tactics
On the recent deadly attacks in Iraq, Votel said that he
abhors the actions of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, “but we have to
respect our enemies and their ability to adapt and adjust on the battlefield.”
The general called some of the Baghdad attacks a manifestation of ISIL’s
ability to see and take advantage of opportunities that they believe will cause
the Iraqi government to divert resources from the Iraqi security forces who are
taking terrain from ISIL and steadily making progress against the terrorist
army.
As ISIL loses ground to Iraqi forces, Votel added, “they may
be reverting in some regard back to their roots as a terrorist organization,
applying some of those unique [associated] tactics.”
Through the U.S. ambassador, the general said, “we’re very
well linked in with the Iraqi political leadership, and certainly they have to
address this, but I think there is a little concern that if this is not
addressed quickly, it could cause them to have to take action and divert …
political focus onto that as opposed to things like Mosul or finishing up
activities out in Anbar.”
Coalition Momentum
On the coalition’s counter-ISIL fight, Votel said if the
approach is one “where we do one thing and see what ISIL’s reaction is, I think
this will be a very long and difficult fight.” The fight becomes more conducive
to the way the coalition wants to operate, the general said, “if we are able to
present them with multiple dilemmas that they have to deal with.”
That causes ISIL to have to make decisions about their
resources and about where they’re prioritizing their effort, Votel explained.
“It causes them to think about what we’re going to do next, and it helps
preserve the momentum for us and takes the initiative away from them,” he said.
Fighting ISIL in Syria
Explaining the difference between the ISIL fight in Iraq and
the one in Syria, Votel noted that in Iraq, there is a government and a
willing, recognized partner on the ground in the form of the Iraqi security
forces.
In Syria, he said, “we don’t have a government partner,
frankly, and we are relying much more on indigenous forces that aren’t necessarily
linked back to a centralized government to help us achieve our objective.”
The coalition is trying to enable the indigenous partners to
help in the ISIL fight, he added, noting that this situation adds a level of
complexity to what the coalition is doing in Syria, as do other conflicts
underway there.
“There’s not just the Islamic State, which we are
principally focused on, but there’s also the [Bashar al-Assad] regime and the
regime’s opposition, and there are other regional powers that are present there
in the form of Russians and Iranians and their influence,” the general said.
“There is an awful lot that is at play in Syria that makes
the situation difficult for people to comprehend and understand how all that
comes together,” he added.
That said, he noted, “our focus remains on the Islamic State
and trying to work by, with and through the partners we’re able to identify and
develop on the ground to achieve our objectives.”