" A tour de force"
Today, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Martin Dempsey and Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel testified in front of the Senate Armed Services Committee on the ISIS situation. It seems they raised more questions than they answered. All in all, it was a truly remarkable performance.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/09/16/joint-chiefs-chairman-opens-door-to-us-boots-on-ground-in-isis-fight/
One issue was President Obama's desire to fund, equip and train those moderate Syrian rebels that are supposed to be out there somewhere. To that, Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) asked Hagel what had changed since Obama had recently described them as "farmers, doctors and pharmacists" ill-equipped to take on Assad's army. To that Hagel replied that the urgent situation of the present was what had changed (I am paraphrasing), which did not address the question about the rebels that the administration wants to aid. Though vehemently denied by Senator John McCain last night on Sean Hannity's show, it is now reported that the Free Syrian Army (the "good guys") has made a non-aggression pact with ISIS. The senators were understandably skeptical about what good could be expected of these forces or the Iraqi army.
General Dempsey also made headlines today when he revealed that if the current policies being followed in Iraq and Syria are not sufficient to defeat ISIS, he may be forced to ask the president for ground troops, which Obama just days ago emphatically stated was not an option-a great intelligence coup for ISIS, I might add. Dempsey also confused everybody by saying that there was "no military solution".
So why are we all here?
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