House Armed Services Committee Chairman Rep. Buck McKeon, R-Calif., worries the president is not going far enough to defeat the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.
President Obama announced in a televised address Wednesday night the United States would continue fighting the extremist group by helping to train and equip regional military forces in the Middle East. Obama said the U.S. would also continue airstrikes to combat the Islamic State, expanding the scope of the campaign across the Syrian border.
During a speech Thursday morning at the American Enterprise Institute, McKeon said he welcomes the president’s response but is concerned it is inadequate to counter and defeat a growing terrorist threat.
“I want our coalition to go all-in now so that we do not risk to use enormously more blood and treasure later,” McKeon said.
Though the president has already committed more than a thousand military advisors and security forces to the region, McKeon says, “more can be done.”
“There is no way around it, American boots will be standing on sand,” McKeon said. “Americans will be shot at, and they will be shooting back. There is simply no other way to do this.”
