The nation’s highest military general made a surprise visit to Baghdad Saturday to meet with U.S. and Iraqi leaders about combating the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.
Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, made the visit to Iraq as the U.S. and its allies conduct an airstrike campaign against the Islamic State that has so far shown mixed results.
NBC News reported this week that an analysis by IHS Jane’s Terrorism and Insurgency Centre’s database showed Islamic terrorists on the offensive, with an increasing number of attacks, despite the airstrikes.
But the general told Marines at the U.S. embassy in Baghdad that U.S. military efforts were working to help Kurdish fighters keep Iraq from falling to the terrorists.
“And now, I think it’s starting to turn. So well done,” Dempsey said, according to Reuters, which accompanied Dempsey on the trip.
Reuters reported that Dempsey told the Marines that the U.S. must demonstrate that the Islamic State is not an oversized force, calling the group, “a bunch of midgets running around with a really radical ideology.”
President Obama, meanwhile, has doubled the number of troops in the region to serve as military advisors. He has also asked Congress for new authority to conduct military strikes in the region against Islamic State terrorists, but has vowed to keep American ground troops out.
Republicans say that won’t get the job done.
House Armed Services Committee Chairman Buck McKeon on Thursday drew a red line on the administration’s request for a new authorization to use force against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, saying any proposal was “D.O.A.” if it does not allow for the use of U.S. ground troops.
“I will not support sending our military into harm’s way with their arms tied behind their backs,” the California Republican said at a committee hearing on the administration’s strategy against the extremist group.
