As to US ground troops entering combat together with Iraqi units, Odierno stated, "I don't rule anything out. I don't ever rule anything out, personally."
Even more blunt was Marine Corps Gen. James Mattis, the former commander of CENTCOM, who retired only last year. Testifying before the House Intelligence Committee, he directly attacked Obama's public position of "no boots on the ground," stating, "You just don't take anything off the table up front, which it appears the administration has tried to do."
Mattis added: "If a brigade of our paratroopers or a battalion landing team of our Marines would strengthen our allies at a key juncture and create havoc/humiliation for our adversaries, then we should do what is necessary with our forces that exist for that very purpose."
Even Obama's defense secretary, Chuck Hagel, appeared to contradict the president's assertion about no ground troops, telling the House Armed Services Committee Thursday, "We are at war and everything is on the table." Hagel also revealed that the 1,600 "trainers" and "advisers" who have been deployed to Iraq are receiving combat pay.
It is apparent that the Obama administration is using a hyper-technical definition of "combat troops" to exclude the military's special operation units from this category, even if they end up engaged in combat.
The position taken by the generals has found ample political support from the right-wing editorial board of the Wall Street Journal as well as congressional Republicans. The Journal argued in an editorial Friday that Obama's "promise never to put ground troops into Iraq or Syria is already undermining the campaign before serious fighting begins against the Islamic State. Few believe him, and they shouldn't if Mr. Obama wants to defeat the jihadists."
The editorial compared Obama's denial about "combat troops" to the claims made at the beginning of the Vietnam War that US troops were acting only as "advisers," warning that the president could face the same fate as Lyndon Johnson, who "gave the impression of looming victory" only to have to escalate again and again."
Rep. Howard "Buck" McKeon (Republican of California), the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, told the Washington Post that Obama should "follow the ... professional advice of the military" and "not take options off the table."
The assertiveness of the top military brass in contradicting the White House is fed by the subservience and cowardice of civilian authorities, including the president and Congress. The latter adjourned this week after voting in both the House and Senate for Obama's plan to shift $500 million in Pentagon funding to the arming and training of so-called "moderate rebels" in Syria. The measure was inserted as an amendment to a continuing resolution to fund the federal government through mid-December.
No serious debate, much less direct vote, was taken on the region-wide war that Washington is launching in the Middle East. The legislators have no inclination to be seen taking a position on this action -- much less an interest in exercising their constitutional power -- for fear that it will reverberate against them at the polls in November. Any debate has been postponed until Congress reconvenes after the elections and, undoubtedly, after the war is well under way in both Syria and Iraq.
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