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                    Carter: US Prepared to Do More in Syria

   by Victor Beattie

   U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said if the U.S. finds additional
   groups willing to fight Islamic State militants in Syria, he and
   President Barack Obama are prepared to deploy additional U.S. forces
   there.

   Carter, appearing Sunday on U.S. television, while aboard the aircraft
   carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt in the South China Sea, said that as the
   U.S. learned in Iraq and Afghanistan, the key to victory is having
   local forces capable of keeping the peace once they've been helped to
   win the peace.

   "Now those are hard to find in Iraq and Syria.  That's why it's going
   to take some time because we have to help develop, enable, encourage
   those forces.  So, what you have here is some forces who want to fight
   ISIL and have shown some effectiveness in fighting ISIL and, if they
   grow in size, we'll do more.  If we find additional groups that are
   willing to fight ISIL, and they're capable and are vetted, we'll do
   more.  The president has indicated a willingness to do more.  I'm
   certainly prepared to recommend that he do more, but you need to have
   capable local forces.  That's the key to sustainable victory," said
   Carter.

   Carter said the number of U.S. troops involved is not what is
   important, rather it is what they're doing that matters.

   ''"They have these unique skills to be able to call in airstrikes, to
   provide intelligence.  So, they are force multipliers for a force that
   is much larger than 50, but is [composed of] local people," he said.

   Although U.S. military personnel are not deployed to take part in
   combat missions, Carter acknowledges that, as in the case with U.S.
   Army Master Sergeant Joshua Wheeler, who was killed in a hostage rescue
   mission with Kurdish commandoes last month in Iraq, they may find
   themselves forced to fight.

   "These guys are in harms' way, don't be in any doubt about that.  We're
   sending them into a dangerous situation and it can develop into a
   combat situation as it did with Joshua Wheeler.  They're sent there to
   support the local combat forces, but they can find themselves engaged
   as he did, and so we shouldn't have any illusions about the fact these
   guys are in dangerous circumstances," said Carter.

   When asked if the U.S. is going back to war in the region, the defense
   chief described the IS group as an evil that threatens American
   security and said the U.S. needs to protect itself. He said the Islamic
   State has to be beaten, and it will be beaten.

   ''

   Feinstein criticizes

   Appearing on a separate U.S. program Sunday, the vice chairman of the
   Senate Intelligence Committee, Senator Diane Feinstein, said the few
   dozen U.S. special operations forces being deployed are insufficient to
   the mission at hand.

   "If we're really going to use special operations [forces], quick in and
   quick out, you've got to do it in a much more comprehensive way to get
   at ISIL. This isn't just one facility, it's not just one building in
   Raqqa or somewhere else, it's many different places. The other thing
   that seems to be emerging is the belief that bombing alone isn't going
   to do it. We've had over 7,000 sorties. Others have made sorties as
   well. We have made a majority of sorties and that hasn't changed the
   dynamic," she said.

   She suggested a coordinated strategy with Russia to defeat the IS group
   in Syria.

   Congressman Peter King, a Republican member of the House Homeland
   Security Committee, has called for an "all-out" strategy to defeat the
   jihadist group and insisted U.S.-led coalition airstrikes have been
   ineffective.

   "I don't think the president has done enough as far as having the
   forces on the ground that are necessary in order to make the air
   attacks effective," said King.

   Democratic Congressman Adam Schiff, the ranking member of the House
   Select Committee on Intelligence, told U.S. viewers Sunday the
   battlefield in Syria is static and more has to be done. He cautioned
   that the fight against the Islamic State group could take up to 20
   years.

   Meanwhile, Reuters reports that U.S./led airstrikes against IS targets
   in both Syria and Iraq intensified in the eight days ending November 6
   with nearly 60 after conducting just three in the previous eight days.
   On Friday, a Pentagon spokesman said multiple, simultaneous and
   coalition-enabled operations are putting pressure on Islamic State
   fighters on multiple fronts.
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References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/carter-us-prepared-to-do-more-in-syria/3049660.html