Obama will have to use US ground troops to defeat IS
In order to destroy the Islamic State (IS) militant group, also referred to as the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS), or Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), US President Barack Obama will have to use American ground troops, despite his claims to be using air force only, US national security experts say, the Washington Times reported Friday, according to RIA Novosti.
"Air power alone cannot win wars. [The president's] stated strategy ignores this widely accepted truth. But with troops on the ground, in very small numbers, we can team with Kurds and Shia to support those ground forces in rapidly defeating ISIS," an Army officer in the Pentagon said as quoted by the Washington Times.
Another expert argued that relying only on Iraqi security forces on the ground would be a mistake, as IS is an army and they have developed proper tactics to defeat themselves.
"We have not learned a thing in 80 years. [The Islamic State] is an army. The air power is not going to get the job done. Until you put troops in and kill these guys, they're going to continue. They adjust to tactics. They meld into [the] civilian population," the Washington times quoted another expert, a former CIA analyst and counter-terrorism official at the State Department Larry Johnson.
Experts say that in order to defeat the terrorist army, such as the IS, air strikes and drone strikes will not be sufficient.
"I would be more confident that it would work if there were American advisers and special forces embedded in these formations to help them call in airstrikes and to stiffen them," Retired Army Col. Peter Mansoor said as quoted by the Washington Times.
American senators agree with this point of view and warn that American soldiers will soon enter Iraq.
"There's no way around it. American boots will be standing on sand. Americans will be shot at, and they will be shooting back. There's simply no other way to do this," Howard P. McKeon, California Republican and chairman of the House Committee on Armed Services said to the Washington Times.
Newsfeed
Videos
Artur Vanetsyan: I think you'll see me more often at various events in future
