The war against the so-called Islamic State in Iraq and Syria may be expanded to include Boko Haram in Nigeria and militant elements in Libya, US Secretary of Defense Ash Carter said on Wednesday, according to the Guardian.
Testifying before Senate committee on the topic of whether to authorize military force against jihadis – more than eight months after air strikes and military operations against Daesh began – Carter conceded that the authorization’s language would allow “flexibility” to include targets who have affiliated with Daesh and threaten the US or its many coalition partners.
“This AUMF [Authorization for Use of Military Force] could apply to operations in and around Libya,” Carter said, “depending on whether or not they met the criteria” of allegiance to and coordinating with Daesh to attack the US or one of its partners.
The hearing came as a Iraqi government forces and Shia militias advanced towards the centre of Tikrit in the largest operation against Daesh since its lightning it conquered large areas of the country in a lightning offensive last summer. The assault on Tikrit has been backed by Iran, but the US-led coalition has not been
invited to participate with air strikes.
Senators on the senate foreign relations committee all expressed their support for the authorization, but the hearing raised many looming questions of US strategy in Iraq and Syria without easy answers for Carter, secretary of state John Kerry, and general Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff.