Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, suggested Sunday that the United States could do more to fight terrorism but predicted eventual defeat for the new-but-extremely-violent Islamic State group. He argued that Islamic State, which has over roughly the past year gained prominence and strength in Iraq and Syria will collapse under its own power. He said the group’s violent nature would prove to be an unsustainable existence for members. In the same context, 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. 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.The outspoken critic of Obama’s Middle East policy also said there was a need to arm the Free Syrian Army, 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. He also said the U.S. military has the capability to attack the Syrian regime led by President Bashar al-Assad should Obama give the orders. (Source: Syrian Coalition + Al Arabiya)
