US president says America has ‘unique abilities’ to respond to IS, including air support for Iraqi and Kurdish fighters on the ground
President Barack Obama Wednesday told an audience of US troops their comrades fighting Islamic State (IS) militants in Iraq will not have a combat mission.
Obama said he would not commit “to fighting another ground war in Iraq”. But he said the US had the “unique abilities” to respond to IS, including air support for Iraqi and Kurdish fighters on the ground.
The US has already undertaken 162 airstrikes against IS in Iraq since mid-August.
But Obama’s new strategy allows similar attacks in Syria, and calls on a coalition of 40 countries to confront the militant group.
The president’s reassurances to soldiers at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, comes after a top US general told a Senate committee an international effort against IS was currently the “appropriate way forward”.
However, Gen Martin Dempsey said, “If that fails to be true, and there are threats to the United States, then I of course would go back to the president and make a recommendation that may include the use of US military ground forces.”
Gen Dempsey confirmed that under the current plan, US military advisers would help the Iraqi army to plan attacks against IS, also known as ISIL and ISIS.
The jihadist group controls large areas of Syria and northern Iraq. It has between 20,000 and 31,000 fighters in Iraq and Syria, according to CIA estimates.
Stepped up strikes
Obama arrived overnight in Tampa, Florida, where Central Command (Centcom) – responsible for the Middle East and Central Asia – is based.
After briefings with top military officials, Obama told an assembly of troops that “the American forces that have been deployed to Iraq do not and will not have a combat mission”.
“We cannot do for the Iraqis what they must do for themselves,” Obama said, adding other countries would help with both air support and training.
“After a decade of massive ground deployments it is more effective to use our unique capabilities in support of our partners on the ground so they can secure their own countries’ futures,” Obama said.
“And that is the only solution that will succeed over the long term.”
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