Deputy Secretary of Defense Ashton B. Carter, center, talks to service members after being briefed on the blast damage to the U.S. Consulate in Herat, Afghanistan, on Sept. 14, 2013. Armed Taliban fighters and a vehicle bomb killed two Afghan police officers and a security guard in the assault on the consulate on Sept. 13th. Carter is on a weeklong trip to Afghanistan, Pakistan and India to meet with senior leaders and troops deployed to the region.