News / Military

Carter: Some anti-ISIL coalition partners doing 'nothing at all'

Saturday, 23 January 2016 4:43 AM [ Last Update: Saturday, 23 January 2016 10:17 AM ]

US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter speaks during a special session of the World Economic Forum in Davos on January 22, 2016. (AFP photo)

US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter has criticized some members of the so-called coalition against Daesh (ISIL) for doing “nothing at all” to destroy the terrorist group in Iraq and Syria.

“Many of them are not doing enough, or are doing nothing at all,” Carter said Friday in an interview with CNBC on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

“We can do a lot ourselves … (but) we are looking for other people to play their part,” he added, without naming any country.

In a separate interview with Bloomberg Television, Carter reiterated the Pentagon’s frustration with some coalition partners, particularly Sunni Arab countries.

"We need others to carry their weight," he said. "There should be no free riders."

Members of the US-led coalition will meet in Brussels in three weeks to galvanize efforts in the fight against Daesh terrorists.

Saudi Arabia and some of its Persian Gulf Arab neighbors initially contributed to the air campaign against Daesh, but their participation waned as they concentrated on the war in Yemen.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg (L) gestures next to Carter during the WEF annual meeting in Davos, on January 22, 2016.

In a speech at the forum, Carter singled out Turkey as a country the US wants to see play a more effective role, especially by tightening its border.

"Turkey is a longtime friend of ours. It's a NATO ally. We're strongly in support of it. We stand with it in terms of defense of its own territory," Carter said.

"But the reality is it shares a big border with Iraq and Syria, which border has been porous to foreign fighters going in both directions and I think the Turks could do more," he added.

Turkey has been allowing the United States to use Incirlik, a strategic airfield in the south, to strike Daesh targets in Iraq and Syria.

Ashton Carter (L) shakes hands with French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian after addressing a joint press conference following a working meeting on the battle against Daesh in Iraq and Syria, on January 20, 2016 in Paris. (AFP photo)

Carter has spent the past week in Europe, primarily in Paris, where he urged allies to step up the fight against Daesh.

The United States has carried out the bulk of nearly 9,800 airstrikes launched against purported Daesh positions in Iraq and Syria since the summer of 2014.

The US and its regional allies - especially Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Qatar - have been arming and training what they call “moderate” militants in Syria fighting against the government there.

Some of those militants have joined the Daesh group.

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