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WASHINGTON -- America's top general would be willing to recommend deploying American ground troops to Iraq and Syria to get ISIS if he feels it's necessary, he told a Senate panel Tuesday.
Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staffs, clearly backed President Obama's decision not to put combat troops on the ground now -- but he did not foreclose the possibility they might be needed.
He said that if the President's expanded campaign of air strikes and training of moderate Syrian rebels fails, he might make such a recommendation.
'But we're not there' yet, he said.
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said that 'If left unchecked, ISIL will directly threaten our homeland and our allies.' ISIL is another acronym for ISIS, the Islamic State.
Obama's two top military leaders faced obvious suspicions from members of the Armed Services Committee, including about not using ground troops now or being prepared to directly fight Syria's dictator, as they argued for a long-term, multi-dimensional effort that depends on a still-forming coalition of nations.
With anti-war activist spectators interrupting the proceeding, Hagel indicated the U.S. is open to striking targets in Syria.
'Because ISIL operates freely across the Iraqi-Syrian border, and maintains a safe haven in Syria, our actions will not be restrained by a border in name only,' said Hagel.
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And, yet, he left no doubt that, 'This will not be an easy or brief effort. It is complicated.' But he did back Obama's position of not using U.S. ground forces.
Similarly, Dempsey said the U.S. and allies can't mount a heavy-duty 'shock and awe campaign' because 'that is simply not how ISIL is organized.'
Hagel and Dempsey faced largely sympathetic Democrats but Republicans who believe Obama is guilty of lengthy 'indecision and hand-wringing,' as it was put by Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.,) the senior GOP member of the panel.
No surprise, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) sat throughout with a sarcastic grin and proceeded to hammer Hagel, his fellow Vietnam War veteran, and Dempsey, with whom he has also clashed in the past.
McCain pounced on both as he suggested the U.S. plan to train about 5,000 moderate Syrian rebels a year in Saudi Arabia was woefully insufficient, especially as ISIS' estimate 31,000 personnel 'are metastasizing into a much larger force.'
In addition, he scoffed at the notion of sending those trainees back to Syria to only fight ISIS and not Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, too, since it was Assad's vicious attack on rebels that led to 190,000 deaths in Syria and the emergence of ISIS.
Repeatedly, he asked Hagel and Dempsey about what we would do if the returning Syrian rebels confronted air attacks from Assad.
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The two men essentially ducked that question and said the focus will be on ISIS.
'It is Bahar al-Assad that has killed many more than ISIL,' said McCain. 'For us to go in and train and equip them and only fight against ISIL....is a fundamental fallacy.'
When he then asked if Obama was wrong to have refused military recommendations to arm the Assad opposition two years ago, Hagel said that he wasn't in his position when the decision was made.
But Dempsey repeated what has been known, namely that he wanted to arm them. For policy reasons, he said, Obama 'went in a different direction.'
The hearing opened with 20 senators in attendance, guaranteeing it would last hours since all would get a chance to question Hagel and Dempsey.
Hagel and Dempsey continually underscored the basic Obama administration line that ISIS is a threat to Americans but that only a multi-dimensional, multi-national military and political approach can work.
Posted by Unknown on Tuesday, September 16, 2014 - Rating: 4.5
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