Carter did not say under what circumstances the U.S. might act on the ground on its own, but said “once we locate them, no target is beyond our reach”.
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The recent call from USA officials for increased American joint and unilateral special operations in the fight against Islamic State militants has drawn concern that what the Defense Department calls “training and assisting” in the Middle East is starting to look a lot more like combat.
Defense Secretary Ash Carter said yesterday that the U.S. plans to step up its attacks against Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria, possibly escalating American action on the ground.
During testimony before the Senate Armed Services committee, Tuesday, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said that the us will begin “direct action on the ground” against ISIS forces in Iraq and Syria with the hopes of intensifying pressure on the jihadists.
The comments came after Master Sgt. Joshua L. Wheeler was killed last week in a raid to free hostages held by ISIS.
Earlier in the day, Army Col. Steve Warren, spokesman for Operation Inherent Resolve, defined raids as “specific missions” where “there is combat action conducted to achieve a certain objective, and then the forces are then removed”.
Perhaps I’m overly optimistic, but I’m detecting a bit of late-term Jimmy Carter here.
But Carter said while he has talked to the Europeans about the humanitarian crisis and IS, he has nothing to report about possible European ground support operations in Syria. The changes point toward the prospect of deeper United States military involvement, although President Barack Obama has said he would not authorize a major commitment of ground combat forces. It’s too little, too late, to undo years worth of harm, but these modest changes represent a measure of progress. McCain asked, “Are we going to protect them from being barrel bombed by Bashar Assad and from Russia”? Lindsey Graham from South Carolina said, “This is a half-assed strategy at best”. The “working dinner” at the French foreign ministry will include “the main partners engaged with France in dealing with the Syrian crisis: Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Qatar, Turkey, Germany, the United States, Italy and Britain”, Fabius said in a statement. Wheeler was the first USA combat death in the fight against the Islamic State and the first in Iraq since the US withdrew in 2011 at the end of the Iraq war.
Extra raids and a focus on Raqqa are two components of an anti-IS strategy Carter described as being centered on the “three Rs” – raids, Raqqa and Ramadi.
The administration is also reportedly considering embedding a few USA advisers with rebel forces in Syria, but it’s not clear how many advisers are being considered, or whether President Obama will adopt that option. “They are underperforming”, Allen said.
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The final “R” stands for more raids, the most aggressive action that the US has taken against ISIS.
