Obama: It would be a 'mistake' to use ground troops against ISIS
Source: the hill.com
By Jordan Fabian - 11/16/15 10:28 AM EST
President Obama on Monday ruled out sending more ground troops to fight the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in response to the terrorist attacks in Paris.
During a press conference at the Group of 20 summit meeting in Turkey, Obama pushed back against calls for the U.S. to broadly rethink its strategy against the extremist group.
“It is not just my view, but the view of my closest military and civilian advisers, that that would be a mistake,” Obama said of sending additional U.S. troops to take on ISIS.
“A strategy has to be one that can be sustained,” Obama added.
“Given the fact there are sacrifices involved in any military action, it is best that we don’t shoot first and aim later,” the president added. “It’s important for us to get the strategy right, and the strategy that we are pursuing is the right one.”
Obama showed frustration with multiple questions about whether he underestimated the threat posed by ISIS against Western nations.
The president sniped at reporters who asked him why the U.S. isn’t doing more to fight the group in the Middle East. “I just spent the last three questions answering that question,” he told one.
He has come under fire for saying the group has been geographically “contained,” a remark which was broadcast just hours before the series of coordinated attacks in the French capital killed at least 120 people and injured many more. Republicans have resurfaced Obama’s comment from last year calling ISIS “a JV team.”
But Obama said his critics have not presented a viable alternative to the strategy the U.S. has pursued against ISIS.
“My only interest is to end suffering and to keep the American people safe. If there is a good idea out there, then we’re going to do it,” he said.
He took a veiled swipe at Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson, who last week suggested he has better intelligence than administration about the conflict in Syria.
“Folks want to pop off and have opinions on what they think they would do, present a specific plan,” Obama said. “If they think that somehow their advisers are better than the chairman of my Joint Chiefs of Staff or the folks on the ground, I want to meet them and we can have that debate.”...........................
Read more: http://thehill.com/policy/defense/260252-obama-it-would-be-a-mistake-to-use-ground-troops-against-isis
Smack down to Republicans. Thank you
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