Defense Secretary Ash Carter said Wednesday the war against the Islamic State in the Middle East is “far from over,” despite recent statements from the Obama administration about “accelerating” the war against the terror group and retaking 40 percent of its territory.
Carter spoke at the top of a 12 nation ministerial meeting in Stuttgart, Germany. He hosted a similar meeting in March in Brussels following the ISIS bombings at an airport and subway station.
“While we have gathered momentum since our ministerial in Brussels, this fight is far from over,” Carter said.
The defense chief took a moment to recognize the sacrifice of an “American service member,” but didn’t mention the man by name or his service. Arizona Gov. Ducey identified the man Tuesday as Navy SEAL Charles Keating IV.
A senior defense official told reporters Wednesday that the Pentagon is withholding the name until 24 hours after notifying his family.
“That point was brought into stark relief by yesterday’s attack on Peshmerga forces in northern Iraq, which unfortunately claimed the life of an American service member – and I know all of our thoughts and prayers are with his family during this difficult time,” Carter added.
Keating died during an “extremely heavy, extremely intense” firefight with U.S. forces and Kurdish Peshmerga troops in northern Iraq Tuesday.
The 31-year-old Keating attended the Naval Academy before becoming a Navy Seal based out of Coronado, California
Keating was the grandson of Charles Keating, Jr., the Arizona financier at the center of the 1989 savings and loan scandal, which led to five U.S. Senators being accused of corruption. The senators allegedly involved were dubbed ‘The Keating Five.’
Keating was advising Peshmerga forces but was less than 2 miles behind the front lines in the town of Tel Askuf, Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook said in a statement. A defense official told Fox News the he was killed by small arms fire, likely from an AK-47 rifle.
“The Peshmerga were trying to hold the line, but Navy SEALS – at least 20 – came in and pounded the s— out of ISIS,” military trainer Matthew VanDyke told Fox News Tuesday, saying that “scores” of Islamic State militants died. VanDyke and three U.S. veterans were training Assyrian Christian forces battling ISIS in the region.
“ISIS kept sending in suicide bombers, SEALs pounded them and the (U.S.) airstrikes did a lot to help. Bullets flying everywhere, machine gun fire from ISIS, really intense firefight,” VanDyke added. He said three Christian fighters and several Peshmerga were also hurt.
The town of Tel Askuf is located about 20 miles north of ISIS’ Iraqi hub of Mosul. Despite a push from the Obama administration to accelerate the fight against ISIS, senior defense officials say they do not believe Mosul will fall this year.
Still, VanDyke says he believes ISIS “won’t be able to sustain continued losses like that.”
Three U.S. military personnel have been killed in Iraq as part of the ground fight against the ISIS terror group. The last American death happened in March, when U.S. Marine Staff Sgt. Louis Cardin was killed in a rocket attack on a firebase in northern Iraq.
This past October, Delta Force Master Sgt. Josh Wheeler was killed during a rescue mission that freed as many as 70 ISIS hostages.
The latest death came following the deployment of a 200-person special operations task force to Irbil, southeast of Mosul, which Carter first announced in December. Last week, President Obama approved the deployment of 450 additional U.S. troops to Iraq and Syria.
Carter visited Baghdad recently. The Obama administration has been pressing the effort against ISIS, which has been slowed down in its quest to overrun Iraq.
There are now roughly 5,000 U.S. troops on the ground in Iraq.(Fox News)
Link: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2016/05/04/carter-says-fight-against-islamic-state-far-from-over.html?intcmp=hpbt2
20
