GENERAL ADMITS HE WILL RE-PROGRAM OBAMA IF NEED BE SO THAT HE WILL OKAY OUR TROOPS ON THE GROUND IN IRAQ. US President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry continue to insist that American ground troops will not be involved in the fight against Islamic State militants – a pledge that has been called into question by US Army generals. The debate over the use of ground troops comes as the House of Representatives voted to authorize the arming and training of Syrian rebels. The move is said to be aimed at fighting Islamic State extremists in the country. Speaking to American service members on Wednesday, President Obama once again stated he will not authorize the use of ground forces in Iraq, and that even those already in the country will not have combat responsibilities. “I want to be clear: The American forces that have been deployed to Iraq do not and won’t have a combat mission,” he said, as quoted by The Wall Street Journal. “As your commander in chief, I won’t commit you and the rest of our armed forces to fighting another ground war in Iraq.” the sentiments were echoed by Kerry during a Wednesday hearing with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “US ground troops will not be sent into combat in this conflict,” he said while testifying. “Instead, they will support Iraq forces on the ground as they fight for their country.” However, those apparently clear assertions are notably different from comments made by Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who testified before the Senate on Tuesday. Dempsey said that should Obama’s current strategy not yield the desired results, he would recommend deploying American troops on the ground. He also noted that the president has said to “come back to him on a case-by-case basis.” Dempsey agreed with Obamas judgment that ground troops are unnecessary. “But if it fails to be true, and if there are threats to the US, then I of course would go back to the president and make a recommendation that may include the use of US military ground forces,” he said.
Posted on: Thu, 18 Sep 2014 04:18:15 +0000
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