STUTTGART, Germany — Defense Secretary Ash Carter on Wednesday defended the U.S. mission of enabling local forces in their fight against the Islamic State, even as he admitted that a Navy SEAL died in Iraq after finding himself in a combat situation.
“He was in a firefight and he died in combat, so let me be very very clear about that,” Carter said of U.S. Navy SEAL Petty Officer 1st Class Charles Keating IV, who was killed Tuesday. Carter was in Germany, where he presided over a meeting of 12 nations in the lead in the battle against the Islamic State.
Carter said that while the U.S. strategy remains one of helping local forces, he suggested even that limited mission would increasingly put U.S. troops in the line of fire.
“We are participants in this, and I just want to be clear. This young man found himself in combat, and sacrificed for this campaign’s success accordingly,” he said.
A senior defense official said SEALs were meeting with senior Peshmerga leaders when they came under fire at a checkpoint four kilometers behind the forward line of troops. The group was pinned down and called for backup. A second SEAL team that was responding took fire from ISIS fighters, which is when Keating was hit. The official stressed that the SEALs were not reinforcing Peshmerga fighters at the time of the attack.
Carter said the emphasis will still be to advise and assist, especially with U.S. airpower. “That doesn’t mean we’re not going to do any fighting at all as a coalition,” he said. “This is necessary in order to protect our country, defeat this enemy, and eliminate what really is an evil movement. And to to do that would involve even greater risks.”
“This service member’s tragic loss … and there’s nothing I take more seriously as secretary of Defense than sending people in a situation where they have risks like this,” he said, adding that “the whole country has to be grateful to this young man and his family for this sacrifice.”
