WASHINGTON — Maybe President Obama should have said he would only put “some boots” on the ground in Syria.
The president told CBS that when he made a “no boots” pledge for inserting US combat forces in Iraq and Syria, he meant there wouldn’t be a massive desert invasion.
“You know, when I said no boots on the ground, I think the American people understood generally that we’re not going to do an Iraq-style invasion of Iraq or Syria with battalions that are moving across the desert,” Obama told CBS in an interview that aired Thursday.
“But what I’ve been very clear about is that we are going to systematically squeeze and ultimately destroy ISIL and that requires us having a military component to that,” Obama added.
On Wednesday, Col. Steve Warren said the US would send a new force of about 100 special operators — double the 50 previously announced. He said they would carry out small strike missions.
“We’re not talking about the 2003 ‘Thunder Run’ up to Baghdad — that’s ground combat,” Warren said, in a line of argument similar to Obama’s. “This is something completely different, these are raids.”
There are currently an estimated 3,550 US forces stationed in Iraq.
Obama continued to say local forces would be an important part of the fight. “We are developing partnerships, although they are not strong as we want yet, with local tribes and Sunnis who are willing to fight ISIL,” he said.
Obama said the 65-country coalition battling ISIS has been striking “mercilessly” and has been able to push ISIS back from territory it had controlled.
Asked about ISIS sympathizers being investigated across the country, Obama said the American people “should feel confident that we’re going to be able to defend ourselves and make sure that we have a good holiday season and go about our lives.”