US ground forces could be
deployed against Islamic State (ISIS) militants if the US-led
strategy of air strikes and advising Iraqi forces fails, top US
General Martin Dempsey said Tuesday.
President Barack Obama has repeatedly ruled out the use of
ground troops while authorising air strikes to "degrade and
destroy" the ISIS militants, who have seized swathes of Syria
and Iraq and declared a "caliphate" there.
General Dempsey said he believed the international
coalition against ISIS was currently the "appropriate way
forward" but added: "if that fails to be true, and there are
threats to the United States, then I of course would go back to
the president and make a recommendation that may include the use
of US military ground forces".
Under the current plan, he confirmed that US military
advisers would help the Iraqi army to plan attacks against ISIS.
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