{"id":53059,"date":"2015-12-01T19:40:26","date_gmt":"2015-12-01T19:40:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2015\/12\/01\/carter-hits-gulf-allies-for-prioritizing-air-not-ground-forces\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T23:45:52","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T23:45:52","slug":"carter-hits-gulf-allies-for-prioritizing-air-not-ground-forces","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/budget\/2015\/12\/01\/carter-hits-gulf-allies-for-prioritizing-air-not-ground-forces\/","title":{"rendered":"Carter Hits Gulf Allies for Prioritizing Air, Not Ground, Forces"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>WASHINGTON \u2014 Gulf Arab allies have focused too much on building up airpower and not enough on training and equipping competent ground forces, hindering the ability to go after the Islamic State <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">militant <\/span>group, US Secretary of Defense Ash Carter warned Congress Tuesday<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">today<\/span>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Carter, appearing before the House Armed Services Committee to talk about the fight against the group, which is also commonly known as ISIS or ISIL, also hit the Gulf nations, Turkey and European allies for not doing more in Syria and Iraq.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;The natural force in particularly the Sunni areas of Syria and Iraq would be Sunni Arabs, and a more effective and insightful kind of force,&#8221; Carter said during his testimony. &#8220;They have been unwilling to field such forces.&#8221;<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">,&#8221; Carter said during his testimony.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<style>.oembed-asset-link { background: #fff; border-bottom: 1px solid #e1e1e1; }.oembed-link-anchor { display: block; clear: both; }.oembed-link-thumbnail{ float: left; padding: 14px; }.oembed-link-thumbnail img { max-width: 78px; max-height: 60px; display: block; }p.oembed-link-title { font-size: 75%; color: #009BFF; margin: 0 14px; padding-top: 12px; font-weight:normal; text-align: left; line-height: 120%;  }p.oembed-link-desc { font-size: 100%; color: #666; font-weight: normal; margin: 0 14px 14px 14px; font-family: 'Futura Today Light'; text-align: left; line-height: 120%; }<\/style>\n\n\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In response to a question about why the Gulf nations are not doing more, Carter diverged into the topic of prioritization of defense equipment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m going to be very candid with you:<span class=\"rte rte-comment\"> \u2014<\/span> M<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">m<\/span>any of the Gulf States weigh<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">t<\/span> air capabilities, air forces and so forth<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">,<\/span> over ground forces and special operations forces,&#8221; Carter said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;If they want to<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">,<\/span> \u2014 as we would wish them to<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">,<\/span> \u2014 wield more influence in the Middle East and do more to secure this part of the world in which they live<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">to<\/span>, they&#8217;re going to need to do more of that on the ground,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;Buying our airplanes is fine, and we provide them, but when it comes to ground forces and special operations forces, there is no question they need to build those forces and wield them.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;They frequently complain to me, for example, about how capable the Iranians are, to which I say &#8216;yes, and you&#8217;re not in the same game, an effective game on the ground,<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">.<\/span>&#8216;&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<style>.oembed-asset-link { background: #fff; border-bottom: 1px solid #e1e1e1; }.oembed-link-anchor { display: block; clear: both; }.oembed-link-thumbnail{ float: left; padding: 14px; }.oembed-link-thumbnail img { max-width: 78px; max-height: 60px; display: block; }p.oembed-link-title { font-size: 75%; color: #009BFF; margin: 0 14px; padding-top: 12px; font-weight:normal; text-align: left; line-height: 120%;  }p.oembed-link-desc { font-size: 100%; color: #666; font-weight: normal; margin: 0 14px 14px 14px; font-family: 'Futura Today Light'; text-align: left; line-height: 120%; }<\/style>\n\n\n\n\n\n<p>It is a bit of a shot across the bow toward<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">s<\/span> regional allies, one that reflects a growing frustration in both the Pentagon and US Congress that the Gulf Cooperation Council nations have not done more inside Syria and Iraq.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While the US has been focused on fighting the Islamic State group <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">ISIS <\/span>inside Syria and Iraq, the Gulf nations have prioritized the Saudi-led fight in Yemen. At November&#8217;s Dubai Airshow, officials from both the US and GCC nations tip-toed around the tensions, but Carter has increasingly been vocal about the need for regional partners to step up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Gulf nations have long had<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">s<\/span> a reputation in industry as prioritizing high-end fighters over support systems, but there are indications that the last year of ongoing operations are starting to draw the GCC&#8217;s attention towards other types of equipment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At least one US CEO, Ellen Lord of Textron Systems, believes that ground forces in the region are set to get a boost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<style>.oembed-asset-link { background: #fff; border-bottom: 1px solid #e1e1e1; }.oembed-link-anchor { display: block; clear: both; }.oembed-link-thumbnail{ float: left; padding: 14px; }.oembed-link-thumbnail img { max-width: 78px; max-height: 60px; display: block; }p.oembed-link-title { font-size: 75%; color: #009BFF; margin: 0 14px; padding-top: 12px; font-weight:normal; text-align: left; line-height: 120%;  }p.oembed-link-desc { font-size: 100%; color: #666; font-weight: normal; margin: 0 14px 14px 14px; font-family: 'Futura Today Light'; text-align: left; line-height: 120%; }<\/style>\n\n\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;We do see many governments with interest in purchasing hundreds of tactical wheeled vehicles,&#8221; Lord told Defense News in Dubai on Nov. 9. &#8220;I think you&#8217;ll see things happen over the next 12 months.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lord said the countries are becoming more aware of capability gaps now that they are using the equipment more frequently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s the thing over the last year that has been a huge focus, and now what&#8217;s going on in Yemen<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">,<\/span> [and] what&#8217;s going on in Syria<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">,<\/span> is causing even more of that,&#8221; she added. &#8220;But I think<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">,<\/span> [that] really testing what&#8217;s in inventory and seeing what&#8217;s working and what doesn&#8217;t work is also influencing decisions.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Turkey, Europe Must &#8220;Do More&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At various points in his testimony, Carter also poked at Europe and Turkey in an attempt to get those partners more involved in the operation, with all involved needing to &#8220;do more.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Carter acknowledged that the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris are driving the French to step up operations, and also noted that the United Kingdom is currently debating whether to engage in direct strikes in Syria. He said that the <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">The <\/span>Germans, meanwhile, &#8220;appear certainly capable of doing more.&#8221;<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">, we want them to do more.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;We want them to do more,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<style>.oembed-asset-link { background: #fff; border-bottom: 1px solid #e1e1e1; }.oembed-link-anchor { display: block; clear: both; }.oembed-link-thumbnail{ float: left; padding: 14px; }.oembed-link-thumbnail img { max-width: 78px; max-height: 60px; display: block; }p.oembed-link-title { font-size: 75%; color: #009BFF; margin: 0 14px; padding-top: 12px; font-weight:normal; text-align: left; line-height: 120%;  }p.oembed-link-desc { font-size: 100%; color: #666; font-weight: normal; margin: 0 14px 14px 14px; font-family: 'Futura Today Light'; text-align: left; line-height: 120%; }<\/style>\n\n\n\n\n\n<p>On the whole, Carter said that he hopes &#8220;<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">I would characterize for Europe, I hope <\/span>that the Paris attacks galvanize all of Europe to do more, because they need to do more.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As for Turkey, Carter called for greater enforcement of the border to prevent supplies and individuals from getting to the Islamic State group<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">ISIS<\/span>, something that he said it &#8220;has not done effectively since ISIL first arose.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;We would like them to operate more both in the air and on the ground,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Most of their air operations are not directed at ISIL.<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">,<\/span> T<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">t<\/span>hey are directed at the PKK,<span class=\"rte rte-comment\"> &#8212;<\/span>which we understand their concern about<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">,<\/span> \u2014 i<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">I<\/span>t&#8217;s a terrorist organization within their bo<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">a<\/span>rders \u2014<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">&#8212;<\/span> but we would like to see them do more against ISIL.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;If they are not doing enough, it&#8217;s a serious matter,&#8221; he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Email: <a href=\"mailto:amehta@defensenews.com\">amehta@defensenews.com<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Twitter: <a href=\"http:\/\/Twitter.com\/AaronMehta\">@AaronMehta<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A focus on high-end, shiny fighter jets has hurt the Gulf nations in the fight against ISIL, SecDef Carter warns.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":52074,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":44,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[44,8,33,19],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3378],"class_list":["post-53059","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-budget","category-congress","category-home","category-pentagon"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"UBNMHNO335AHJBALD67CRCUYME","arc_canonical_url":"\/congress\/budget\/2015\/12\/01\/carter-hits-gulf-allies-for-prioritizing-air-not-ground-forces\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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