ABOARD A U.S. MILITARY AIRCRAFT — Defense Secretary Ash Carter said Sunday’s shooting in Orlando should only emphasize that everyone must do everything in their power to defeat the Islamic State.
“It certainly should further steel everyone’s resolve to defeat ISIL in its parent tumor in Iraq and Syria,” he said.
He had no Defense Department update to provide on the shooting that killed 49 people, saying that local law enforcement must be allowed to continue their investigation.
Providing a battlefield update to reporters as he flew to a NATO ministerial in Brussels on Monday, Carter said operations in Iraq and Syria against the Islamic State are progressing as expected.
In Iraq, the secretary said the operation to retake Mosul is moving forward “according to plan” and that operations to surround Manbij are proceeding “very satisfactorily.”
He said Iraqi Security Forces have called in for support from U.S. Apache helicopters, a capability that has been authorized for months but was used for the first time within the past day.
“That did occur and an ISIL target was destroyed as a consequence of that,” Carter said.
The use of U.S. Apaches was authorized during the campaign to retake Ramadi months ago.
A senior defense official said the strike occurred near Mosul on Monday morning and destroyed an Islamic State vehicle. Several Apaches flew, but only one fired, the official said.
Carter is in Brussels for a NATO defense ministerial where he told reporters he intends to ask NATO to increase its participation in the fight against the Islamic State, despite saying that operations against the terror group in Iraq are progressing “very satisfactorily.”
“I’m always asking for more. We’ll continue to ask for more from everybody, including ourselves,” Carter said.
While all NATO members already contribute to the campaign against the Islamic State, Carter said NATO as a whole brings some force-generation, and command-and-control capabilities that individual countries cannot muster.
