After SEAL’s death, Pentagon chief says fight against ISIS ‘far from over’

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STUTTGART, Germany — A day after a U.S. Navy SEAL was killed repelling an Islamic State offensive in Iraq, Secretary of Defense Ashton B. Carter met Wednesday with representatives from 11 allied countries in an effort to galvanize support for a war soon entering its second year.

“This fight is far from over,” Carter told reporters in Stuttgart. “We were reminded off this yesterday, when an American service member, Petty Officer First Class Charles Keating . . . was killed.”

Carter’s mention of Keating was the first public acknowledgment from the Pentagon of the slain sailor, who was identified Tuesday by Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey.

“This young man found himself in combat and sacrificed for this campaign’s success,” Carter added.

Keating, an Arizona native, was the third U.S. service member to be killed in combat against the Islamic State.

Carter’s comments regarding Keating came after a closed-door meeting between the Pentagon chief and his foreign counterparts that aimed to tackle some of the next steps in the fight against the Islamic State. The conference involved some of the key countries contributing to the U.S.-led campaign against the Islamic State, including Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Spain and Britain. Australia also sent an envoy.

The group of countries has committed the majority of equipment and resources, alongside the United States, that has bolstered coalition efforts in the ongoing conflicts in Iraq and Syria.

“There’s common recognition around the table that we all must be prepared to do more,” Carter said.

Carter said he expects the participating countries to make future military commitments to the campaign, though much of the discussion focused on the Iraqi political situation in Baghdad and strategic developments on the battlefield, including a drive in Syria to locate more local forces that could put pressure on the Islamic State’s self-declared capital of Raqqa in Syria.

On Monday, Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg announced that Norway would expand its role fighting the Islamic State by sending Special Operations forces to Jordan to help train so-called moderate Syrian rebels who have pledged to fight the extremist group. The troop commitment earned Norway a place at the table for Wednesday’s meeting.

Earlier this year, the war against the Islamic State appeared to have reached an inflection point. White House official’s administration were growing inpatient with the pace of the campaign, as Iraqi forces struggled to retake the city of Ramadi and ISIS forces remained firmly entrenched in their strongholds of Raqqa and Mosul in northern Iraq.

In an effort to galvanize more support for the war, Carter met with the defense ministers of 28 countries in Brussels in February and asked them to “do more” in the fight against ISIS.

Carter walked away from that meeting touting that “60 percent” of the coalition had decided to increase their contributions to the campaign, but almost three months later it is unclear how many nations have delivered more tangible resources to the fight. The United States currently provides the bulk of troops and carries out most airstrikes against the extremist group. Wednesday’s meeting, involving roughly half of the coalition, was intended to serve as part of the ongoing dialogue to ensure the coalition is working effectively together. The entire coalition plans to meet again in the summer.

According to a senior U.S. defense official, who requested anonymity to discuss future operations, the key test for the coalition in the coming months will be in the lead up to the battle for Mosul, the largest city in northern Iraq and the main stronghold for the Islamic State in Iraq.

(c) 2016, The Washington Post ยท Thomas Gibbons-Neff

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