White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough repeatedly declined to say whether any other countries have agreed to provide troops on the ground in Syria as a part of President Obama’s efforts to build a coalition.
He repeatedly said Americans would hear the news from Secretary of State John Kerry later this week.
But then he said that the president wasn’t looking for boots-on-the-ground troops, after all.
“Other [countries] have suggested that they’re willing to do that, but that’s not what we’re looking for right now,” McDonough said.
Building a coalition of other countries taking action in Syria against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria is an essential part of Obama’s plan, which attempts to avoid unilateral action.
Obama has said that the 500-plus new troops he has deployed would be there in a training capacity and not as fighters.
That leaves the question of where the “boots on the ground” will come from.
“There’s not a single military adviser that’s come to you and said you can defeat [the Islamic State] without troops on the ground,” “Meet the Press” moderator Chuck Todd said, a statement with which McDonough agreed.
