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Pentagon chief concedes US forces "in combat" against IS

WASHINGTON, April 28 (KUNA) -- US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter Thursday pushed back against assertions made by the White House that Special Operations personnel sent to Iraq and Syria are "not in a combat role" against the so-called Islamic State (IS) group.
"These people are in combat... I think that we need to say that clearly," Carter told lawmakers at a hearing in front of the Senate Armed Services Committee. "I can well imagine that the point being made [by President Barack Obama] is... not to try to substitute for local forces... to try to get them powerful enough that they can expel ISIL with our support," he explained, using an alternative acronym for IS.
"When we provide that support, we put people in harm's way. We ask them to conduct combat actions," he conceded.
Carter's testimony on Capitol Hill follows the announcement earlier this week that 250 additional members of a Spec Op team are being sent to Syria, in order to build on gains made by the 50 personnel already on the ground.
White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest had emphasized these "troops are not in a combat role." Arizona Republican Senator John McCain, who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee, said Thursday the Administration has been too slow to react to the IS strategy in the Middle East and North Africa.
"We always seem to be a step behind, a day late and a dollar short. While too many of our leaders, both in the Administration, and yes, in the Congress, too fixated on and sought to micromanage military operations in Iraq and Syria, ISIL executed strategic counter moves, launching sophisticated attacks into the heart of western civilization and deepening its presence in Libya," he said.
"The administration increasingly appears focused on this problem, but once again, the response has been reactive, slow and insufficient," he added.
But Carter was quick to defend progress in the efforts against IS: "We've systematically eliminated ISIL's cabinet, having taken out its so-called ministers of war and finance.
"We captured one of the principals [of] ISIL's chemical warfare enterprise, removed external plotters from the battlefield, and most recently took out the ISIL amir for southern Mosul, weakening ISIL's ranks there." As of this week, he added, "we are conducting the next plays of the military campaign." "They are, one, stabilizing Iraq's Anbar Province; two, generating Iraqi security forces to envelope Mosul; three, identifying and developing more local forces in Syria that will isolate and pressure Raqqah; and four, providing more firepower, sustainment and logistical support to our partners to enable them to collapse ISIL's control over both these cities," Carter affirmed.
To that end, Carter urged Congress to unblock nearly USD 350 million toward the new train-and-equip program for local forces.
Late last year, it was revealed that the Pentagon had used up some USD 500 million in a failed training effort that ended with only five graduates. It has since scrapped that approach. "We've moved away from last year's disappointments with a former approach to the program and we need your support to fully overcome them," Carter urged lawmakers. (end) ys.ibi