CHINA TOPIX

03/28/2024 08:50:30 pm

Make CT Your Homepage

Republican Doubts Obama’s Ground Troop Strategy Against ISIL

U.S. troops

(Photo : REUTERS/Mark Wilson/Pool) U.S. troops gather for U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel's speech at the Al Udeid Airbase, west of Doha December 10, 2013.

United States House Homeland Security Chairman Mike McCaul questioned President Barack Obama's strategy of sending ground troops in Syria, reports said. In a TV interview, McCaul accused the White House of being unwise for not considering other nations' participation in terms of ground combat against the ISIL.

Like Us on Facebook

In an interview with CBS' program "Face the Nation," Mc Caul said, "I do agree with the sort of strategy that we want the Sunni moderates, the Arabs, to fight the Sunni extremists. I don't think we want to put our conventional combat troops in the middle of a lot of this."

The Republican cited instances where other countries have expressed support for Obama's war against the Jihadist extremists.

One was Egypt's pledged military support. Another was Jordanian Prince Feisal Bin Al-Hussein's offer to help by sending his ground troops to Syria.

To this, McCaul reacted, "I don't know why we wouldn't consider that option."

Apart from that, McCaul criticized Obama's general game plan against the ISIL, saying that it "does not fit in this president's narrative."

"His narrative was, 'I am the president to end these wars' and so now when he looks at his legacy he can't get his head wrapped around the idea of what ISIS is and how to defeat it and what an imminent urgent threat that it really is," McCaul said.

Apparently, Obama does not consider help from other countries' ground troops at the moment, Secretary of State John Kerry said on "Face the Nation" on Sunday.

While Obama has proposed to train and arm moderate Syrian rebels, he said he needs additional authorization from Congress, reports said.

In contrast, some Democrats and lawmakers might not support Obama's plan to arm the rebels.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., in another "Face the Nation" interview said the strategy might not be productive, citing Iraqi forces' little success against ISIL despite receiving U.S. training.

However, she expressed support for other of Obama's plans, such as America's multilateral engagement in dealing with ISIL.

Gillibrand said, "if he continues to form a coalition to deal with this serious terrorist threat, that is the right approach."

Real Time Analytics