Carter Agrees With Hollande: We Are At War With Islamic State

[Valin]

Washington Free Beacon:

Daniel Bassali

November 19, 2015

 

Defense Secretary Ash Carter told Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski Thursday morning he agreed with French President Francois Hollande; there is an ongoing war with the Islamic State. “So you agree with the French president we’re at war?” Scarborough asked Carter. “Yeah, I think Francois Hollande has said it very well,” Carter said. “I’m glad the French are galvanized in joining the fight now.”

 

Carter’s blunt talk contrasts with President Obama’s rhetoric, who referred to the massacre in Paris that killed over 130 people in a series of coordinated attacks a “setback.” “We have to defeat ISIL. We will defeat ISIL,” Carter said. You see the barbarism associated with this. It is something that must be defeated.”

 

When confronted about complaints from the Pentagon the administration is tying their hands with strict rules of engagement, Carter left the door open to loosening the conditions within which U.S. forces may operate in Syria and Iraq.

 

(Snip)