The chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee said Tuesday that President Obama still can’t seem to comprehend how the Islamic State has managed to terrorize Iraq and Syria for so long, because it goes against Obama’s overall desire to withdraw from the Middle East.
“He can’t get his head wrapped around it because it wasn’t part of his narrative and campaign narrative,” Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, said on Fox News Tuesday morning.
McCaul said pulling out of Iraq and Afghanistan was Obama’s strategy all along, and said those conditions helped create the Islamic State. Even now, McCaul said, Obama has put forward just a minimal force against the group, one that can’t succeed.
“The strategy is one of containment, not to defeat and destroy ISIS, and that’s been my beef all along,” he said.
McCaul added that Obama appears to be blaming the Pentagon for its failure to succeed so far. Obama said Monday that the Pentagon is looking for ways to more quickly build up Iraq’s military force to fight ISIS, but admitted this plan isn’t complete yet because it will depend on more talks with Iraq.
Just a few weeks ago, however, the White House and Defense Secretary Ash Carter criticized Iraqi troops for having “no will to fight” against the terrorist group. That comment has left some scratching their heads about why the new plan is to simply find more of those troops.
McCaul said it’s time to send more U.S. special forces to the region. “I think that we need more of our special forces in to guide the strikes,” he said.
McCaul, who was recently in Iraq, also said the U.S. military needs more leeway to carry out more strikes, as they are now operating under conditions that are too restrictive.
“The one thing our Air Force generals tell me off the record is that, ‘Congressman, Mr. Chairman, we have to have zero collateral damage. We cannot strike unless we have the assurance that we have zero collateral damage. Therefore, we can’t strike.’ ”
In the meantime, however, the Islamic State is making gains, including its recent takeover of the city of Ramadi. McCaul said Obama isn’t moving nearly as fast enough.
“Didn’t he ask for a strategy a year ago, when we saw the beheading of the journalists and the Christians?” he asked. “How long does it take to get a strategy to win?”
