War on IS needs ‘boots on ground’: US air force secretary
The air campaign against the Islamic
State group has made progress in
degrading the jihadist organisation 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.
“Air power is extremely important. It
can do a lot but it can’t do everything,”
James said.
“Ultimately it cannot occupy territory
and very importantly it cannot govern
territory,” she told reporters at the
Dubai Airshow.
“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 IS.
A US-led coalition has been carrying out
air strikes against IS in Iraq and Syria
for more than a year in a campaign that
has seen the jihadists lose some territory
but also make new gains.
The White House announced on October
30 that US President Barack Obama had
authorised the first sustained
deployment of “fewer than 50” special
force personnel to Syria, reversing a
longstanding refusal to put US boots on
the ground.
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 IS.
While US troops are believed to have
carried out covert missions in Syria
before, they had not previously been
deployed there on a continuous basis.
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