The Wall Street Journal: Pentagon Sees Possible Role for U.S. Ground Forces Against Islamic State Militants
America's top military officer raised the prospect that limited U.S. ground forces would be needed to battle Islamic State militants if fighting in Iraq grows more difficult.
That prospect could test President Barack Obama's strict ban on deploying ground troops.
Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, didn't recommend U.S. combat forces be used in Iraq now.
The White House said that his comments didn't indicate disagreement with Mr. Obama.
"To be clear, if we reach the point where I believe our advisers should accompany Iraqi troops on attacks against specific ISIL targets, I will recommend that to the president," Gen. Dempsey said at a congressional hearing on Islamic State, which is also known as ISIS or ISIL.
Responding to questions at a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Gen. Dempsey said he has opposed allowing U.S. military advisers to serve alongside Iraqi units on front lines and had blocked requests from commanders to send U.S. advisers into combat to call in airstrikes.
But he suggested his recommendations to Mr. Obama could change, depending on conditions on the ground.
He told senators one such condition would be if Iraqi forces took on a more complex military operation such as trying to retake control of Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city, which fell to Islamic State militants earlier this year.
Gen. Dempsey's testimony pointed to the depth of public concern in the U.S. over a possible ground war in the Middle East as the U.S. expands a campaign of airstrikes in Iraq and plans a new military mission to target Islamic State in Syria.
It also pointed to the extent of disagreement among lawmakers on the role of American military advisers in Iraq.
He said an international coalition being assembled by the administration was the appropriate way forward.
"I believe that will prove true. But if it fails to be true, and if there are threats to the U.S., then I of course would go back to the president and make a recommendation that may include the use of U.S. military ground forces," he said.
Following Gen. Dempsey's comments, the White House reiterated its opposition to ground forces.
"The president does not believe that it would be in the best interest of our national security to deploy American ground troops in a combat role in Iraq and Syria," Josh Earnest, the White House press secretary, told reporters traveling on Air Force One. "He will not deploy ground troops in a combat role into Iraq or Syria."
He said Gen. Dempsey was supportive of Mr. Obama's policy, which clearly rules out ground forces. Mr. Earnest added that Gen. Dempsey was responding to a question about a hypothetical situation.
Gen. Dempsey's spokesman, Col. Ed Thomas, said later Tuesday that he supports Mr. Obama's strategy, wasn't considering ground combat forces as an option and believes the current approach is working.
During the hearing, Gen. Dempsey said that Gen. Lloyd Austin, the head of Central Command, had requested that he be allowed to place U.S. special operation forces inside Iraq units to help call in airstrikes as they tried to retake Mosul Dam.
But Gen. Dempsey said the military instead developed a plan to have U.S. military advisers in Erbil help manage the battle remotely by viewing feeds from cameras on board U.S. aircraft.
"We learned some things about how to use advisers from remote locations. I'm not saying this'll work every place every time, but we pulled that mission off," Gen. Dempsey said. "And I think it's a good template for future operations."
His comments came as Central Command announced a fresh round of airstrikes in the expanded campaign against Islamic State militants.
Central Command said it conducted strikes aimed at helping the Iraqi security forces counter Islamic State militants.
Northwest of Erbil, the U.S. said it hit an armed truck and an Islamic State fighting position. Three more airstrikes southwest of Baghdad damaged another truck, destroyed antiaircraft artillery piece, a small ground unit and two boats resupplying Islamic State militants on the Euphrates River.
Military officials have said disrupting the groups supply lines are critical in helping Iraqi forces make inroads against the group.
Within Congress, Gen. Dempsey's comments sparked a debate over the administration's intentions in Iraq and Syria. Sen. James Inhofe (R., Okla.) said it was "foolhardy" for the Obama administration to rule out special operations forces on the ground to call in strikes.
But the committee chairman, Sen. Carl Levin (D., Mich.), said having combat forces on the ground can be counterproductive.
Gen. Dempsey's comments were discussed at a closed-door meeting of House Democrats.
"There's a concern that you can't just pour in a huge amount of additional weaponry, that you can't go in and launch all these airstrikes without having some blowback and some consequences, many of which may have been unintended," said Rep. Rick Nolan (D., Minn.). "That may very well change the situation to the point where people who are against boots on the ground say 'We've got to have boots on the ground.' "
Rep. Peter Welch (D., Vt.) said Gen. Dempsey's comments could affect a congressional debate on training Syrian rebels.
"When you have General Dempsey, who is a straight shooter, saying there's some potential for ground troops, it obviously is another factor people have to take into account," Mr. Welch said outside the closed-door meeting of House Democrats. "But there's revulsion at ISIS and there's a collective desire to do something."
Congressional leaders from both parties on Tuesday backed the president's request to train and equip Syrian rebels to fight Islamic State militants, predicting the measure would clear Congress with bipartisan support.
After the hearing, Mr. Levin said Gen. Dempsey's comments about U.S. ground forces were being misinterpreted.
"He suggested if in fact they are needed in the future, if the circumstances are different, he is open to making a different recommendation," Sen. Levin said.
Gen. Dempsey has publicly supported the Obama administration's foreign policy approach, backing the Obama administration's focus on stripping chemical weapons from the Syrian regime in lieu of airstrikes in 2013. Like the president, he has publicly urged careful use of American military force and has cautioned against potentially long and costly entanglements.