Obama will never deploy large number of US ground troops in Iraq unless the slaughter goes above the 10,000 range and he is
forced to act. Indeed, there are reports that the first 2 aircraft sortie was leaked by the Pentagon to corner Obama so he could not weasel out of taking
some action.
Obama Says Iraq Airstrike Effort Could Be ‘Long Term’
The low key, piecemeal sorties of two aircraft will be "long term" allowing ISIL the time to procure (they have millions from the banks in Mosul) ground to air equipment.
cupper, with his usual view:
And now we wait for the inevitable contrarian view from the Republicans that Obama is making war without consulting Congress and we shouldn't be involved and we need to rein this guy in, it's unlimited spending that will add to the national debt, etc. Dollars to donuts that Lindsey Graham and John McCain come out against this after spending all summer calling for it.
US Politics.
Some quote today:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/10/john-mccain-iraq_n_5665986.html
"John McCain Criticizes Iraq Air Strikes As 'Ineffective' "
Don't forget cupper, McCain has some experience in this area,
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/10/lindsey-graham-syria_n_5665831.html
Sen Lindsay Graham - "If he does not go on the offensive against ISIS, ISIL -- whatever you want to call these guys -- they are coming here," he added. "This is just not about Baghdad, this is just not about Syria, this is about our homeland. And if we get attacked because he has no strategy to protect us, then he will have committed a blunder for the ages."
Rep. Peter King - "They are more powerful now than al Qaeda was on 9/11," he said, referring to the Islamic State, adding, "I lost hundreds of constituents on 9/11. I never want to do that again. We see this coming. For the president to say we're doing airstrikes, we're not doing anything else. We're not going to use American combat troops, not going to do this, not going to do that. What kind of leadership is that? You should never let the enemy know what you're going to do."
More recently, in late July,
Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Martin Dempsey said the Islamic State posed a "longer term" threat to America.
"Let me speak for the United States military. The United States military does consider ISIL a threat to -- initially to the region and our close allies, longer term to the United States of America," he said. "And therefore we are preparing a strategy that has a series of options to present to our elected leaders on how we can initially contain, eventually disrupt, and finally defeat ISIL over time."
