(MENAFN- Jordan News Agency) The United States supports Arab plans to create a unified military force to counter growing security threats in the Middle East, and the Pentagon will cooperate with it where U.S. and Arab interests coincide, Defense Secretary Ash Carter said Monday.
Carter told reporters during a visit to Fort Drum in New York that U.S. military leaders who met with him in Kuwait several weeks ago thought that regional members of the coalition fighting Islamic State militants should be encouraged to do more if they were able.
"So I think if they are willing to do more, in this case with respect to Yemen, then that is a good thing because ultimately it is their region. The willingness of the parties there to step up and do more for stability in the Middle East is a good thing," Carter explained.
Asked if the U.S. military would cooperate with the new force, the U.S. defense secretary said it would, noting that many of the participants, like Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, are already bilateral security partners with the United States.
Carter's remarks came a day after Arab leaders meeting at a summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, announced the formation of a unified military force to counter growing security threats from Yemen to Libya.
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