Kerry did not go into detail, leaving that for the president, but in response to a question from an Al Iraqiya TV journalist, seemed to allow for the possibility, however unlikely, of American boots on the ground if “something very, very dramatic changed.”
Here is Kerry’s full response to the question from the State Department transcript:
Kerry: Well, as-salam alaikum. Let me say to you that President Obama is going to speak to that in a few hours, and he will lay out the details of exactly what we’re going to do. But as I said earlier and we’ve said previously, this is a broad-based comprehensive strategy that is being laid out. And it will not just be reserved to bombs or direct military assistance. It will be comprehensive with Iraqi forces on the ground in Iraq with an army that will be reconstituted and trained and worked on in terms of a number of different strategies through the help not just of the United States but of other countries also. But in – and let me emphasize: Iraq has not asked for American forces on the ground nor other forces and Iraq doesn’t want those other forces here, and we understand that.
In addition, the President of the United States and other leaders of other countries have eliminated the notion of their forces being engaged in direct combat unless, obviously, something very, very dramatic changed. That’s the way it is today, and that’s the way it’s going to be. And the President is building a strategy around that. But as you know, we support the Syrian moderate opposition. In addition, we have talked about plans to grow that support for the Syrian moderate opposition. So there are people who live in these countries who have serious commitments to opposing what is happening there, and they’ve been prepared previously over many years to put their lives on the line in order to fight for what they believe. They believe that with adequate levels of support of various kinds, they can carry that fight. And so do we – we believe that.
So you’ll see tonight from the President’s comments the breadth of each of the areas and what he intends to announce, and I think it’s appropriate for me just to have given you those general comments and then you’ll get the greater details later.
President Obama is set to address the nation in a televised appearance tonight at 9 p.m. to announce his strategy for confronting ISIL in Iraq and Syria.
