Rep. Eliot Engel, Sen. Ron Johnson call for Obama to put ‘boots on the ground’ in Iraq
Rep. Eliot Engel, Sen. Ron Johnson call for Obama to put ‘boots on the ground’ in Iraq
8-17-14
A member loyal to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria waves a flag in Raqqa. The offshoot of al Qaeda has captured swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria has declared itself an Islamic ‘caliphate’ and called on factions worldwide to pledge their allegiance.
The New York Democrat and the Wisconsin Republican teamed up to encourage the President to plan a more forceful response to ongoing chaos in Iraq.
Bipartisan calls for a more forceful response to the situation in Iraq grew Sunday, with a pair of lawmakers calling for President Obama to send U.S. soldiers back to the war-torn country.
“Ultimately we may have some boots on the ground there,” Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) said on “Fox News Sunday.” “We need to do everything we can to repel ISIS. I don’t think we have the luxury of putting our heads in the sand and saying, well, it’s over there and we’re not going to do it.”
Engel, the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, added “that’s not something I want, but you know what, we have that choices and the worse choice is to do nothing.”
“If we allow ISIS to get bigger and bigger, they’re going to plot homeland attacks on us,” he added.
Wisconsin Republican Sen. Ron Johnson, meanwhile, acknowledged that Americans are reluctant to get re-involved in Iraq, but warned that the White House has no other options.
“These are evil people that need to be defeated,” Johnson said. “We may be war-weary. But I’ll tell you, ISIS, is not war-weary. They’ highly trained, they are highly organized. They have been very patient setting up this caliphate, and that they’re long term aim really is to use that base of operation against the West.”
“We need to be highly concerned about this. This threat is a gathering storm. It’s not going away,” he added.
President in Obama, in recent weeks, has stepped up U.S. efforts to combat ISIS’ rise throughout Iraq and Syria, approving airstrikes against the terrorist group, but has continually ruled out putting more U.S. boots on the ground.
nydailynews.com
