House Speaker John Boehner says the United States may have 'no choice' but to send American troops to fight Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham militants if the current U.S. strategy fails to extinguish the extremist group.
Boehner told ABC's 'This Week' on Sunday morning that he doesn't believe President Barack Obama's approach will accomplish his stated goals without more effort. The Ohio Republican said it will take more than airstrikes to destroy the ISIS group, and he criticized Obama for saying he won't send in American ground troops.
'If I were the president, I probably wouldn't have talked about what I wouldn't do,' Boehner told host George Stephanopoulus. 'And maybe we can get enough of these forces trained to get 'em on the battlefield. But somebody's boots have to be there.' When asked what would happen if 'somebody' didn't step up, would American troops have to go, Boehner said: 'We have no choice. These are barbarians. They intend to kill us. And if we don't destroy them first, we're gonna pay the price.'
Obama has said that he would like to rely on Iraqi forces, Kurdish fighters and soon-to-be trained Syrian 'moderate' rebels for a ground campaign.
IN-DEPTH - Hasani Gittens
First published September 28 2014, 8:56 AM
Entities 0 Name: Boehner Count: 3 1 Name: American Count: 3 2 Name: Obama Count: 2 3 Name: Hasani Gittens Count: 1 4 Name: ABC Count: 1 5 Name: ISIS Count: 1 6 Name: U.S. Count: 1 7 Name: United States Count: 1 8 Name: Ohio Republican Count: 1 9 Name: Islamic State Count: 1 10 Name: Barack Obama Count: 1 11 Name: George Stephanopoulus Count: 1 12 Name: Iraq Count: 1 13 Name: al-Sham Count: 1 14 Name: John Boehner Count: 1 Related 0 Url: http://ift.tt/1vhkO6b Title: For Obama, a swift leap from no strategy to a full battle plan for Islamic State Description: After keeping his promise to avoid American involvement in extended wars for nearly six years, President Obama on Monday began a military engagement that he acknowledged is likely to far outlive his time in office. The launch of airstrikes in Syria and expanded U.S.
