The Syrian Defense Forcer launched a campaign Nov. 6 to expel Islamic State fighters from Raqqa, Syria. Defense Secretary Ash Carter welcomed the news, calling the effort “the next step in our coalition campaign plan.” Carter acknowledged that a tough fight lay ahead, “But it is necessary to end the fiction of [the Islamic State’s] caliphate and disrupt the group’s ability to carry out terror attacks against the United States, our allies and our partners.”