WASHINGTON –
Defense Secretary Ash Carter arrived in the United Arab
Emirates today to consult with regional partners and other allies as the United
States seeks to accelerate the campaign against the Islamic State of Iraq and
the Levant.
Speaking to reporters at Al-Dhafra Air Base in Abu Dhabi,
Carter said he wants to discuss the whole spectrum of operations against ISIL.
“We’re looking to do more,” he said, “but it ranges from in
the air to on the ground, all consistent with our overall strategic approach,
which is to enable local forces ultimately to hold and sustain the defeat of
ISIL.”
More Deployments Possible
More U.S. service members may be deploying to the region as
part of this fight, Carter said. “Our presence on the ground is -- and will continue
to be, to enable -- not to substitute for -- local forces,” he said.
And the deployments are not limited to fighting core-ISIL in
Iraq and Syria, the secretary said. “As far as I'm concerned these people here
are in the fight too,” he added. “I know when you talk about ‘on the ground,’
you're thinking of Iraq and Syria. I just want to remind you here at Al-Dhafra,
these people are pretty busy, and some of them are in risky situations every
single day.”
President Barack Obama has been supportive of the approach
DoD is taking, Carter told reporters. “We’ve gotten approval from the White
House every time the chairman [of the Joint Chiefs of Staff] and I have gone to
ask for something that we've needed to accelerate, going way back to last year,
and so that isn't really the issue for us,” he said. “The issue for us is
identifying yet more ways to accelerate the campaign.”
U.S. Fighting in All Domains
The United States is fighting ISIL in all domains, including
in the cyber realm and in the battle of ideas, Carter said, and the U.S.
government and its allies must innovate to defeat this foe. The secretary said
he expects more and has encouraged Army Gen. Joseph L. Votel, the commander of
U.S. Central Command, and Army Lt. Gen. Sean McFarland, the commander of
Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve, and all other commanders
to think outside the box for new ways to speed ISIL’s defeat.
For the coalition airmen at Al-Dhafra, Carter said,
accelerants could mean more sorties or it could be a shift in the nature of the
campaign. One example of this type of shift, he added, was targeting banks and
cash storage areas that ISIL relied on.
“I talked to several people here about important changes
they’re making to these platforms and their command and control, and that’s
important,” the secretary said. These changes allow the U.S. Air Force to
operate more effectively with coalition allies, he explained.
Gulf Cooperation Council
The secretary is in the region on this leg of his overseas
trip laying a foundation for Obama’s participation in the Gulf Cooperation
Council meeting in Saudi Arabia next week. He said he will stress the
counter-ISIL campaign and discuss the possibility of Iranian aggression and
malign influence.
Carter will also discuss the need for regional allies to
continue prolonged engagement in Iraq and Syria after ISIL’s defeat. “It is in
recognition of the fact that for the defeat of ISIL to stick in Iraq and Syria
-- these badly broken places, destroyed by ISIL, pillaged by ISIL, mistreated
by ISIL -- are going to need to be rebuilt,” he said.
(Follow Jim Garamone on Twitter: @GaramoneDoDNews)