Speaking to the Senate armed services committee Carter said on Tuesday that similar missions were likely in the future as US forces adapt to the fight in Syria and Iraq, The Guardian reported on Wednesday.
“We won’t hold back from supporting capable partners in opportunistic attacks against ISIL or conducting such missions directly, whether by strikes from the air or direct action on the ground,” said Carter.
Carter did not say under what circumstances the US might conduct more ground action but added: “Once we locate them, no target is beyond our reach.”
Carter and Marine Gen Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, testified before the Senate armed services committee. Republicans harshly criticized the Obama administration’s strategy in Syria and Iraq, where ISIL militants have captured large swaths of territory and have largely fought the US-led coalition to a stalemate.
With little recent progress in defeating the militant group, the defense secretary’s testimony outlined a changing US approach to the fight against ISIL. The changes point toward the prospect of deeper US military involvement, although Barack Obama has said he would not authorize a major commitment of ground combat forces.
Among other options being considered is providing close-air support for Iraqi ground forces with Apache helicopters or other aircraft, and embedding US military advisers with smaller Iraqi units, thus placing the Americans closer to the frontlines. That’s according to defence officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.
The US now has about 3,300 troops in Iraq to "train and advise Iraqi forces", as US authorities claim, and to protect US facilities. There are no US troops in Syria.
In Syria, Carter said the US will support the so-called "moderate Syrian forces" fighting ISIL militants, who have made territorial gains near Raqqa. He said the US hopes to better equip anti-ISIL forces, further bolster Jordan and intensify the American air campaign with additional US and coalition aircraft to target ISIL with heavier airstrikes.
“In the new train-and-equip effort that we described today, we will look to identify and then support capable and motivated forces on Syrian territory that are willing to take on [ISIL],” Carter said. “We have identified some of them already. And the new approach is to enable them, train them and equip them, rather than trying to create such forces anew, which was the previous approach.”
A Department of Defense programme to train and equip the so-called moderate forces to combat ISIL was a failure.