More ground soldiers likely to join Iraq war: Carter

Reuters, Washington :The U.S.-led coalition fighting ISIS needs to take back the cities Mosul and Raqqa and will use “boots on the ground” as part of its strategy in doing so, U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said on Friday.”We need to destroy them in those two places, and I’d like to get on with that as soon as possible,” Carter, speaking from Davos, Switzerland, said in an interview on CNBC.He said the coalition is using raids and bombs to take control of the routes between the two cities and cut off communication between them.”That’ll essentially separate the Iraqi theater from the Syrian theater,” he said.Carter said more ground soldiers will probably be added to support those already there, but part of the strategy is also mobilizing local forces “rather than trying to substitute for them.”Meanwhile, several members of the US-led coalition attacking the ISIS group in Iraq and Syria are doing “nothing at all” to help destroy the terrorists, US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said on Friday.His comments mark a departure from the Pentagon’s typical depiction of the 65-member coalition, which carries the slogan “One mission, many nations,” and is frequently touted to highlight global resolve in the predominantly US effort to defeat the ISIS group.”Many of them are not doing enough, or are doing nothing at all,” Carter said 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 singling any country out.In a separate interview with Bloomberg TV, Carter called the anti-ISIS alliance a “so-called” coalition, highlighting frustrations the Pentagon has with some partners — particularly Sunni Arab nations — not doing enough. “We need others to carry their weight, there should be no free riders,” he said.Carter has spent the past week in Europe, primarily in Paris, where he sought to persuade allies to step up their efforts against the ISIS group.He is meeting with representatives from another 26 allied nations next month to make the same appeal.Carter reiterated calls for one such partner, Turkey, to bolster its fight against the terrorists.Turkey is allowing the United States to use Incirlik, a geographically vital air base in the south, to strike ISIS targets in Iraq and Syria, but Carter said Ankara needs to do more to secure its lengthy border with Syria.