Secretary of Defense Ash Carter, during a meeting with president of the United Arab Emirates Mohammed Bin-Zayed in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Oct. 24, 2016. (Brigitte N. Brantley/DOD)
PARIS – Security measures needed to prevent more Islamic State group attacks in Europe and the United States are expected to be the focus of Defense Secretary Ash Carter’s discussions Tuesday with French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian.
As Islamic State militants are driven from their remaining strongholds in Iraq and Syria, Carter will meet with Le Drian to discuss the next phase of defending against the terrorist group. The talks will concentrate on stopping “external plotters” – homegrown sympathizers or battlefield fighters from the Middle East who launch terrorist attacks.
France has been a repeated target for terrorists. In January 2015, two gunmen forced their way into the Paris offices of the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo and opened fire, killing 12. In November, the Islamic State group attacked Parisian cafes and a nightclub, killing 130. In July, a truck was driven through crowds celebrating Bastille Day in Nice, killing 86.
“Every time we eliminate an external plotter overseas, we contribute to the protection of the homeland,” said Carter, who arrived in Paris on Monday.
The campaign to hit the external plotters in the Middle East has largely been executed by special forces and airstrikes, said Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend, the top commander for U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria.
Gen. Tony Thomas, leader of U.S. Special Operations Command, will accompany Carter in France to provide an assessment on the Islamic State group’s ability to conduct external operations “and how he sees the threat changing,” a senior U.S. defense official traveling with Carter said on the condition of anonymity.
As the terrorist group loses territory, more intelligence sharing and law enforcement collaboration between the United States and Europe is a major factor in defending against attacks, Carter said.
Driving the Islamic State group from Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, “will help us with that,” he said. “We get more intelligence, more information on how they are operating. Therefore, there are new opportunities to attack external plotters.”
In July, Carter hosted all of the coalition nations’ defense ministers at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland to begin planning for the next phase of defending against the Islamic State group. At that meeting, they discussed how the coalition might change its focus on military operations to homeland defenses once the Islamic State is pushed from Mosul and Raqqa, the terrorist group’s headquarters in Syria. The Islamic State group’s main concentration of its external operations is believed to be in Raqqa, the senior defense official said.
“As essential as it is to beat [the Islamic State group] in Raqqa … it’s not sufficient,” Carter said.
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