On Sunday’s GPS program with Fareed Zakaria, U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter declared what we all want to hear. “I think we will defeat ISIS,” he told Fareed. The more poignant question is this: how can America defeat a terror group that has seemingly greater capabilities to reach and recruit Muslims worldwide? Carter offered an overly simplistic answer:
We need capable, local forces to do more.
America Needs Local Partners
Without laying blame, Carter pointed to the oil-rich Gulf states in the Middle East: Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates. Of course, the Saudis should also be included into this list of “regional” partners.
Perhaps naively, the Defense Secretary believed that when the Arab countries see that the U.S. is winning, they will “be on the winning side.” Because standing with your allies in a time of crisis is the right thing to do.
“We don’t ask for favors,” he said, matter-of-factly.
A key component of the U.S. strategy is to retake Raqqa in Syria–the so-called capital of the new Islamic Caliphate–and the northern city of Mosul in Iraq.
On Afghanistan
For a long time, American forces have been in Afghanistan to train the Afghan National Police (ANP) and the Afghan National Army (ANA). To this day, training continues. Secretary Carter told CNN the need to stay in Afghanistan for as long as it takes in order to enable the Afghan military to secure its own border and safeguard its people.
American will fund the Afghan military to be self-sufficient,” he said.
Fareed was right to ask about the timeline. The truth is, even Carter doesn’t know.
America might stay in Afghanistan for ten more years.