JOINT BASE ANDREWS, Md. – Every member of the 60-nation coalition fighting Islamic State (ISIL) militants in Iraq and Syria is being asked to up its contribution and many have agreed ahead of a plan to oust the group from its regional capitals.
Secretary of Defense Ash Carter and more than 30 other defense ministers agreed on Wednesday to further accelerate their coalition fight against ISIL during a ministerial meeting at Joint Base Andrews outside Washington, D.C.
Carter declined to discuss publicly what next steps were decided on, but he outlined some material contributions other coalition members have committed to over coming months.
“We are all going to need to do more,” Carter said. “Today, we’ll identify both our enduring and emerging requirements and review our detailed metrics matrix of national contributions – going through it row by row, column by column and country by country. We must ensure that our partners on the ground have what they need to win the fight and then hold, rebuild and govern their territory.”
The defense ministers and their entourages were treated to a demonstration that involved Air Force Pararescue troops fast roping from HH-60 Black Hawk helicopters into a parking lot on base. The troops took fire from dismounted pretend ISIL fighters and a truck-mounted machine gun before calling in close air support from a pair of A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft that flew over the crowd.
“Two-thirds of our coalition members have pledged or already made additional military contributions since then while many other member nations have contributed vital economic, political and humanitarian support,” Carter added.
France has pledged to increase its material support to the coalition, including in September the third deployment of the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier and its airwing to the region, French Defense Minister Jean-Yves le Drian said at Wednesday’s meeting.
“France will also strengthen the contribution of our army and deploy additional intelligence assets,” le Drian said.
Le Drian said a lasting defeat of ISIL and its radical ideology will require deployment of intelligence and security forces for years. Beyond Iraq and Syria, the coalition musty stabilize other territories where ISIL affiliates have emerged, including Libya. He also mentioned the Lake Chad region of Africa.
The United Kingdom has pledged to double its troop deployment from 250 to 500 troops to Iraq. The additional forces will deploy forward to train Iraqi soldiers specifically to detect and defuse or destroy improvised explosive devices that likely will be strewn throughout Mosul once it is captured from ISIL.
Australia has pledged more troops to train Iraqi security personnel to perform border security and law-enforcement duties.
Conspicuously absent from the negotiations was Turkish Defense Minister Fikri Isik, whose plans to attend were disrupted by the attempted coup in that country that unfolded and quickly failed last week. In a call with Carter on Tuesday, Isik said the Turkish ambassador to the United States would attend the meeting and be “fully empowered to speak for the Turkish government.”
Army Lt. Gen. Mike Shields, head of the U.S. Joint Improvised Threat Defeat Agency (JIDA), is in Baghdad to share the organization’s hard-earned knowledge of homemade explosives.
U.S. Central Command chief Army Gen. Joseph Votel, who attended Wednesday’s meeting, said the additional 560 U.S. troops destined for Iraq have not deployed but will soon. He and Carter said more U.S. capabilities could be needed, but requests for additional authorities, troops or weapons will be directly tied to specific objectives on the ground by Iraqi partner forces.
“Today we need to review – and agree on – the next plays in our campaign,” Carter said. “Then we will identify the capabilities and support required to execute those next plays. Since February, our nations, including the United States, have provided even more support to accelerate the campaign, as our local partners have made advances.”
Votel said that the coalition must not underestimate the personnel, equipment and weapons necessary to retake and hold Mosul – a city of two million people. The focus now is on force generation, efforts that will establish at least six Iraqi brigades for the operation.
Carter and Fallon spoke as if the fall of Mosul was a foregone conclusion. Talks Wednesday began to shift focus to economic and political contributions to support Iraqi security forces in holding and rebuilding after the offensive, they said.
“Most of our conversation today was about what happens after the defeat of ISIL in Mosul,” Carter said. “We are identifying the requirements there because they are large … because it is a large city. The biggest concern was that stabilization and governance … will lag behind the military campaign.”
Wednesday was not the first time coalition leaders have declared the campaign against ISIL would accelerate to hasten the group’s lasting defeat. About a year ago, command of the coalition military campaign against ISIL in Iraq and Syria was consolidated under a single U.S. officer, Lt. Gen. Sean MacFarland. Then began a series of “accelerants” to bring about a swift defeat of the militant group, including deployment of more fighter and bomber aircraft and increased contributions from other coalition members.
A similar pledge was made in January, though Carter said the campaign had made significant progress in the intervening months.
“Play after play, town after town, from every direction in every domain” ISIL has been driven back, he said. The next-step plans agreed to Wednesday will “culminate in the collapse of ISIL control of Raqqa and Mosul,” the group’s respective capitals in Syria and Iraq.