Americas...:US: We Need More Boots on Syrian Ground!

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The air campaign against ISIS has made progress in degrading the extremist organization but will not be enough without local boots on the ground, the US air force secretary said on Tuesday.

The comments from Deborah Lee James come just days after Pentagon chief Ashton Carter raised the possibility of deploying additional US Special Forces personnel to Syria if more partners can be found among local forces on the ground.

She told reporters at the Dubai Airshow, "Air power is extremely important. It can do a lot but it can't do everything."
Ultimately it cannot occupy territory and very importantly it cannot govern territory,"

"This is where we need to have boots on the ground. We do need to have ground forces in this campaign."
James cited the "Iraqi army, the Free Syrians and the Kurds" as forces to support in the fight against ISIS.

And in an interview on Sunday, the Pentagon chief said that more US troops could "absolutely" be deployed to Syria if Washington identifies more "capable local forces" as partners in the fight against ISIS.

"If we find additional groups that are willing to fight "ISIS" and are capable and motivated, we'll do more, Carter said.

He further stated that "the president has indicated a willingness to do more, I certainly am prepared to recommend he do more, but you need to have capable local forces; that's the key to sustainable victory."

"What they are doing there is they are enabling local forces, a mixture of Kurds and Syrian Arabs, who want to fight ISIL, Carter said. So this small, very elite group, is intended to bring to bear all that the United States can bring to bear, in the way of intelligence, air power and so forth, to help these motivated, capable local forces.

And this is an instance of the whole strategy, Carter added. We have to beat ISIS. We will beat ISIS. ISIS's heart is in Syria and Iraq."

Carter also noted the US military's role as a stabilizing force in Asia, as a US Naval ship recently sailed close to a controversial Chinese artificial island in the South China Sea.

"For our part, we're going to continue to stay on and fly and operate wherever international law permits as we have done for decades," Carter said.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team