Islamic State Obama says additional US forces will help "squeeze" group
Obama has said his strategy to fight the militant group in Iraq and
Syria does not include U.S. ground combat troops, but this week, the
Pentagon announced it would send a new force of special operations
troops.
President Barack Obama said his decision to send more U.S. special forces to combat Islamic State in Iraq is not an indication that the United States is headed for another invasion like the one in 2003 that locked it in a long, violent conflict.
Obama
has said his strategy to fight the militant group in Iraq and Syria
does not include U.S. ground combat troops, but this week, the Pentagon
announced it would send a new force of special operations troops.
"When
I said no boots on the ground, I think the American people understood
generally that we're not going to do an Iraq-style invasion of Iraq or
Syria with battalions that are moving across the desert," he said in an interview with CBS that aired on Thursday.
"But
what I've been very clear about is that we are going to systematically
squeeze and ultimately destroy ISIL and that requires us having a
military component to that," Obama added, using a common acronym for the militants. The interview was taped on Wednesday.
On
Wednesday, U.S. Army Colonel Steve Warren said the new force would
likely amount to 100, an increase over the 50 announced previously.
The
addition is the latest effort to boost U.S. military pressure against
Islamic State while also exposing American forces to greater risk.
Obama
has only sparingly moved to expose U.S. troops to greater risk in Iraq
and Syria, even as he faces ongoing criticism from Republicans on his
strategy to combat the militants. Some have called for thousands of
additional troops to be deployed to the region, where Islamic State
militants control wide swaths of territory.
The
Obama administration also faces increasing pressure to act following the
Nov. 13 Paris attacks that have raised fears over security in Western
nations and prompted France, Britain and Germany to boost their role in the U.S.-led coalition fighting the Islamic State.
In
the interview, Obama acknowledged that U.S. special forces alone would
not be able to destroy the militant group but said they could provide
additional intelligence, work with local forces and help direct air
strikes.
"We are developing partnerships,
although they are not strong as we want yet, with local tribes and
Sunnis who are willing to fight ISIL," he told CBS.
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