U.S. supports, would cooperate with proposed Arab force - Carter

U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter speaks at a joint news conference with British Defense Secretary Michael Fallon after their meeting at the Pentagon in Washington March 11, 2015. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas

FORT DRUM, N.Y. (Reuters) - 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 on 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.