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McCain calls for more U.S. ‘boots on ground’ and arming FSA to fight ISIS

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U.S. Senator McCain watches his colleagues speak during news conference following their tour of the Arizona-Mexico border in Nogales
McCain said the Obama administration lacked a strategy to defeat the militant group in Syria and Iraq. (File Photo: Reuters)

U.S. Republican Senator John McCain warned over the weekend that the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) was making gains and that the United States needed to step up its military offensive against the militant group including sending “boots on the ground.”

“ISIS right now is winning. And we need to go after them, and we need to have more boots on the ground,” McCain said Sunday in an interview with CNN.

When asked to elaborate on the extent of a U.S. ground role, McCain said: “I mean intelligence. I mean forward air controllers. I mean trainers. I mean more air assets. I mean across the board an increase.”

“And if you talk to any of our military experts, those not in the administration, they’ll tell you that’s basically what we need, and it’s fairly obvious what we need,” he added.

The senator also blamed the spread of ISIS on President Barack Obama’s administration decision not to leave any residual troops in Iraq following the U.S. military withdrawal of that Arab country.

“And it’s also obvious when the president did not leave a residual force behind as Ryan Crocker, Bob Gates and Leon Panetta have said we could have, that was the seminal moment that led to the situation we are in today, the largest terrorist organization in history,” he said.

He said the Obama administration lacked a strategy to defeat the militant group in Syria and Iraq.

free Syrian army members
US Senator John McCaine urged the Obama administration to arm the Free Syrian Army ( FSA) , which is waging a war on two fronts in Syria, one against forces loyal to President Bashar Assad, the other ISIS.

The outspoken critic of Obama’s Middle East policy also said there was a need to arm the Free Syrian Army ( FSA) , which is waging a war on two fronts in Syria, one against forces loyal to President Bashar Assad, the other ISIS.

“We need to understand that Syria and Iraq are the same. We need to arm the Free Syrian Army. We need a no-fly zone, which many of us have been calling for, for years, and a coherent strategy that can be presented to the Congress, because they’re going to be wanting an authorization for the use of military force,” he said.

The Republicans won control of the U.S. Congress earlier this month, the first for the conservatives in nearly a decade.

Al Arabiya

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26 responses to “McCain calls for more U.S. ‘boots on ground’ and arming FSA to fight ISIS”

  1. doron Avatar
    doron

    didn’t he learn the lesson from Iraq?
    american boots on the ground would end current war but most likely will only be the starting gun for many more wars.
    in the end- no one will thank the americans

    1. 5thDrawer Avatar
      5thDrawer

      Oh hell, Doron … no-one thanks them now … not even you guys.
      But, like with sending to Lebanon, everyone wants only American money. Greenbacks only, please. Some don’t even say ‘please’.

      1. doron Avatar
        doron

        we have nothing to thank Obama for , if that’s what you mean- the wrong man in the wrong place at the wrong time.
        we have a lot to thank USA for and we do, we wait till the fool goes home

        1. AkhouManUki Avatar
          AkhouManUki

          If there’s one area where I respect Obama, it’s that he had the balls to be honest about Israel. Every other American politician acts like a little bitch when it comes to challenging the status quo.

          I have no doubt that Israelis like Doron would prefer to go back to the status quo, but with “leaders” like Netanyahood, they have themselves to blame.

          1. doron Avatar
            doron

            well , the only thing i can admire about Obama is that he went into office believing he can change things around, since that moment it was all down hill for him, his forigen policy was a no show, he never set the pace for anything but reluctantly draged into things. in General he gives the impression he would like the US to seperate itself from bossing the world around- which is nice idea ,yet completly against the US policy since WWII- he was naive at best.
            at home front, he fails to set his grand plans in motion , no health care, no gun control .he lost the democrats both houses and facing their criticizm
            , he is a rookie in politics yet he holds the highest job there is
            his body lang & all this white hair he gained since tells it all- the man is washed out.all he wants is to end his shift in 2016 .
            you might believe he was a good president cause he had balls..balls and no foresight it seems..
            since you called netanyaho Netanyahood- it’s ok to assume you have something against Jews or are we still on politically correct terms where you do not hate us and I’m just picking on you ?

          2. AkhouManUki Avatar
            AkhouManUki

            It’s easy to poke holes, but as far as I’m concerned it’s the most difficult job in the world. In this day and age when every movement gets dissected a thousand ways, anyone in that role is under far more scrutiny than ever.

            Like I said before, despite your best efforts to shove words in my mouth, I have no issues with Jews. I do have an issue with that warmongering, hate-filled war criminal you like to call your leader. At least Obama has class and grace.

          3. doron Avatar
            doron

            hey don’t get too upset, i was only refering to your “yahood” comment lol
            i’m not putting words in your mouth,it’s you who said them. you’re true colors show even though you try to hide it

            it is the most difficult job in the world but thats not an excuse for incompatance..Obama’s time in office will get a big red F when he is done.
            seriously, the only good thing you can say for Obama is that he “has class and grace” ? LOL what is he ,a ballet dancer or a god damn president of the US???
            he is gracefully dancing his way to a big fat red F on his score card, unless you can supply some true achievements he had in office ( and no reason you gave so far is good enough reason to sit 8 years in office- ask any american)

          4. AkhouManUki Avatar
            AkhouManUki

            Whatever it is, class and grace is way more than you can say about Netanyahoo. I have learned to lower my expectations when it comes to presidents and PM’s – I just ask that they not be war criminals.

            I remember you apologizing a couple of days ago about ASSuming you know me – but here you go again ASSuming you know my true colors. Clearly you can’t get past your own prejudices – how predictable.

          5. doron Avatar
            doron

            I asked if these are your true colors and i only used your words as foundations…am i wrong or misleading?

          6. AkhouManUki Avatar
            AkhouManUki

            Actually you didn’t ask – you ASSumed. Look doron, it’s hard enough to have to keep autocorrect from calling you moron, but at some point you need to own that you are racist towards arabs. Instead of constantly searching for a fight, why not reflect on what you can do to help manifest peace in your country?

          7. doron Avatar
            doron

            now you’re talking, what will you be willing to compromise for peace?
            i’ll be willing to give you the west bank and Gaza for disarming all the long range rockets and denounce violence, do you agree?
            i’ll ignore the moron comment cause i think you might be someone who can talk sense

          8. AkhouManUki Avatar
            AkhouManUki

            Tit for tat is not the solution doron. You need to dig a little deeper to find lasting peace. When you stop looking down on the Palestinian people and Arabs at large, and choose love over hate, then an abundance of peace will be there for you. In your current state of mind, you’ll probably counter that Palestinians are filled with hate. I get it. That’s the whole vicious cycle phenomenon, and everyone wants to shout about who started it. Give up on horse trading and embrace your Palestinian neighbors with love doron – that’s the long term answer. Give, give, give and it will come back ten fold.

            If you read a little closer, you’ll understand that autocorrect (aka my phone/laptop) keeps trying to correct your name from doron to moron – it just did it again! Out of respect, I keep changing it back to your name, and I’m only pointing this out.

          9. doron Avatar
            doron

            strange, everybody seems to demand us to look deeper and find lasting peace, no one seems to demand arabs to dig deeper and find peace inside.
            i didn’t make things up , we were willing to give the PA almost everything it demanded during Ehud Olmert’s time , i believe only the status of Jerusalem was left for later times .and the PA rejected it.
            in the name of Impartiality i’d like to see someone pushing the PA a little too. i would be content if they took the hate filled material from the official curriculum for a start. at least stop educating the young for hate.
            i understand about the auto correct now, no offence taken

          10. AkhouManUki Avatar
            AkhouManUki

            Doron, what you are proposing is the equivalent of asking a homeless person to give charity to a billionaire. Most homeless people are in survival mode and don’t have the luxury to think beyond today. Israel should take the high ground, and stop looking for excuses to go backwards (aka Netenwhacko).

            I agree that hate should not be propagated on both sides, so no argument that both the Israelis and Palestinians should grow up and understand that injecting hatred in the youth is fueling the flame for generations to come.

          11. doron Avatar
            doron

            i would only say regarding the homeless equation: we gave it every chance possible- from the very first Oslo accord to Olmert Initiative.yet we feel like the PA spits in our faces for our efforts.
            I do not want argue with You , you are a respectful person but we see things from 2 completely different angels. we will not agree here I’m afraid

          12. AkhouManUki Avatar
            AkhouManUki

            A lot happened before Olmert, and for you to take a slice in time and use that as a way to paint the Palestinians as ungrateful is both misleading and disingenuous. I appreciate the respect, but it sounds like you are choosing to blame the Palestinians for everything.

            There are decades of deep wounds that are not going to be solved by one successful negotiation. Like I have said before, the solution is not going to come from the failed political “leadership” (on both sides). It requires a grassroots cultural shift to love thy neighbor.

          13. 5thDrawer Avatar
            5thDrawer

            You could say that PA feels it needs some support from Hamas … since it doesn’t seem to have had a whole lot of success by being NOT Hamas.
            Oh well .. everyone wants ‘instant success’ these days. There is no education. Some things really DO take time, don’t they? 😉

          14. doron Avatar
            doron

            yep, but if during this time Israelis die from Arab hands then it’s time we can’t afford to give.
            both parties PLO & Hamas should start diverting the money they get to education and housing for the people instead of firearms .or at least build bomb shelters if they do not plan to forsake the war industry all together

          15. 5thDrawer Avatar
            5thDrawer

            That ‘auto-correct’ is SUCH a pain sometimes. My stupid Smart-Phone learned one miss-spelling I made, didn’t notice I corrected it, and ever since then I have to fight it to get the word right when I tripe it correctly. TYPE, dammit, TYPE.

          16. 5thDrawer Avatar
            5thDrawer

            Hmmmm .. some never enjoyed The Arts ….

          17. 5thDrawer Avatar
            5thDrawer

            Many seem to enjoy picking on Obama …. almost as soon as they elected him, in fact.
            But ‘Concepts’ do not fall into place in only 8 years. Democracy took a while to just get this far. Even the ‘pureness’ of Zionist Thought has been bandied about for a century … and much like Communism, is relegated to small pockets of humans – even if they force the ‘controls’ on much larger numbers of people.
            Let’s take that ‘Foreign Policy’ bit, for one example.
            ‘The World’ seems to hate America … because of it. So, what’s wrong with trying to make some friends instead?? Become again the ‘insular lot’ they were before the Japanese attacked, you know? Up to then, it was only ‘business’. Why not just get back to doing business, be the tourists with the money, and let the ideologues experiment elsewhere – while making sure they CAN protect a border? Wouldn’t everyone be happier if they only punted opinions through Hollywood Movies once again?

            As for the ‘Health Care’ idea … it is not, of course,what ‘certain other’ countries have as a concept of ‘all inclusive’ health care. Not by a long shot.
            Being a little too close at times, ‘We’ look south and see that – and keep trying (seemingly losing lately) to defend our concept against it. BUT, It IS only business. It’s what Americans seemed to thrive on … Insurance Companies Making Money. And they proclaim that ‘Right To Pay’ private corporations all the time, don’t they?? All Obama proposed (and the few millions who needed it flocked to join in) was that those who really couldn’t afford Insurance could have a ‘plan’ which might keep them out of the Poor-House, and working for a Hospital Bill for a lifetime, if they needed some medical attention at a young age – especially when working for a minimum $2.50 an hour as a wait-table-person while trying to get through some more-expensive educations.
            (breaking a leg would wipe out a whole lifetime of income, and the ability to recognize the ‘American Dream’, after all. Especially with interest added in bank ‘time-payment’ plans’ – or the Great Horror of Credit-Card Mafia-level interest debts.)
            Well, ‘money people’ of certain ‘STATES’ would rather ‘donate’ money to politicians instead of to the Federal Reserves of ‘The Country’ for those few million to have a little more edge on life … so the ‘business propaganda’ is horrendous … although Obama was only doing business anyway, and it’s hard to understand why more of the business people don’t like his concept – especially if their own insurance wasn’t good enough if they got something like Cancer, or had complications from bullets passing through a body when hired as a ‘soldier-worker’ during a war being fought ‘for’ other people.

            Ahhh, that brings up your ‘gun control’ bit … right … the biggest business of the world, except for maybe Diamonds. Right?? 😉
            (imagine making fewer babies who will want a diamond on a finger ….tsk, tsk)
            No-one was taking guns away – from ‘SANE’ heads. They just wanted some control on knowing that it was only sane heads who had access to them, and a defined ‘wait-time’ for those who had instantly become a little insane, usually because they had just had a fight in a bar with the spouse – or were too young to know any law.
            WELL … that 4.5 million-person NRA CLUB (backed by businessmen) sure put the boots to THAT idea, and the other 345 million Americans who were not as insane.

            I don’t see how you can blame ONE guy in ‘office’ for only 8 years for any of the failures of his concepts … although, perhaps books will be written of this ‘time period’ and future generations who are allowed to read in libraries (even on a computer screen) may think some parts are worth revisiting.
            Maybe i should have asked, before I look at these concepts … are you a Gun-runner or a Diamond merchant? But then, I’m too old to be a danger to any ‘thought’ anyway. Right? 😉

          18. doron Avatar
            doron

            I’m not exactly blaming him – i’m pointing to his loses on battles he chose to take, weather it’s foreign politics or internal politics and using it as a base line to asses his chances of success – statistic shows he didn’t do too good and it IS 8 years in the making.
            you wrote i can not blame ONE guy- who else is there? the strongest person on the planet with scores of advisers and unlimited budgets. the whole industry works for him yet he has no results to show for

  2. man-o-war Avatar
    man-o-war

    The problem is the FSA your training and arming keep defecting to join the daeshbags.

  3. arzatna1 Avatar
    arzatna1

    Personally I am opposed to having more American boots on the ground , specially in Iraq, because all they will be doing is making Iraq more lazy and dependent on the Americans. There are plenty of boots in Iraq and they have received enough training to be able to defeat ISIS if they are committed to such a cause. The problem in Iraq is not the lack of boots , it is the lack of unity and this is up to the new government to correct .
    On the other hand I fully support arming the moderate Syrians , since they are the future .If there have been defections to ISIS and Nusra it is because the Obama administration never had a proper strategy in Syria , ran out of red ink, did not trust the FSA and flip flopped on every occasion .

  4. sweetvirgo Avatar
    sweetvirgo

    I can’t believe he thinks FSA exists!!!

  5. AkhouManUki Avatar
    AkhouManUki

    Maybe McCain should suit up instead? He’s probably bored with Warshington.

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