NYT: U.S. General to Seek Combat Troops if Airstrikes Can’t Stop ISIS

[markpkessinger]

I guess this is what "no boots on the ground" looks like.

[font size=5]U.S. General to Seek Combat Troops if Airstrikes Can’t Stop ISIS[/font]

[font size=1]By JEREMY W. PETERS and MARK LANDLER SEPT. 16, 2014[/font]

WASHINGTON — Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Congress on Tuesday that he would recommend deploying United States combat forces against Islamic extremists in specific operations if the current strategy of airstrikes was not successful, offering a more expansive view of the American role in the ground war than that of President Obama.

In testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee, he said that while he was confident in the ability of the coalition of American, European and Middle Eastern governments to stop the Islamic State, he could not completely close the door to eventually asking Mr. Obama to commit ground troops to fight the group, known as ISIS or ISIL.

“My view at this point is that this coalition is the appropriate way forward. I believe that will prove true,” he said. “But if it fails to be true, and if there are threats to the United States, then I of course would go back to the president and make a recommendation that may include the use of U.S. military ground forces.”

Any future commitment of American personnel on the ground could put Mr. Obama in a difficult position, as he has repeatedly insisted that no American troops would engage in the battlefield, and Gen. Dempsey sought to explain the apparent contradiction.

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[msongs]

1. give the old man a gun and a one way plane ride nt