Carter: “Make no mistake,
we
will defeat ISIL”
WEST POINT – Defense Secretary Ash Carter told the Corps of Cadets
at the US Military Academy at West Point on Wednesday that the terrorist
attacks in Brussels on Tuesday had a “galvanizing effect”
on the allies to defeat terrorism.
He said the attacks were a “grim reminder” of what the world
must face and defeat.
“In the face of these acts of terrorism the United States stands
strongly in solidarity with our ally, Belgium,” he said. “Brussels
is an international is an international city, the host to NATO, the European
Union, to great institutions that represent people working together for
a better future, and the opposite of what the people who conducted attack
will represent.”
Secretary Carter told the cadets the US is turning up the heat on terrorism.
“We are accelerating our campaign against ISIL, most immediately
in Iraq and Syria – that is where the parent tumor is of this cancer.
We need to defeat it there and as necessary, not sufficient, we need to
defeat it in other places where it is metastasizing like North Africa,
Afghanistan and elsewhere,” he said. “Make no mistake, we
will defeat ISIL; I am completely confident. We want to get it done as
soon as we can.”
Carter also took a few questions from cadets who asked about his career
path and advice he might have for them.
