海角大神

Critics of the Obama administration鈥檚 war policy have tended to focus on what more the Pentagon could be doing in the fight against the Islamic State (IS): sending over more weapons, say, and more trainers 鈥� and perhaps, for good measure, even some US troops to help foreign forces more accurately target the enemy in Syria and Iraq.聽

Flanked聽Monday聽by America鈥檚 top military officer, Gen. Martin Dempsey, as well as other brass including Gen. Joseph Votel, head of US Special Operations Command, President Obama was most interested in once again emphasizing his belief that this approach is a non-starter. Many of the Pentagon鈥檚 top officials back him in this assessment.

Billed as the chance to bat around 鈥渨hat鈥檚 working, and what we can do better鈥� against IS with his national security team, Mr. Obama鈥檚 Pentagon briefing following this meeting with military officials was his first since last October.聽

The president highlighted, too, what鈥檚 working well for IS militants at the moment: namely, their frustrating ability聽to hold onto some key urban real estate in Iraq and Syria, which serves as an important security blanket for the terrorist group. After all, if they鈥檙e in the middle of cities, it鈥檚 tough for the US military to bomb them.聽

Currently, IS is 鈥渄ug into the civilian population,鈥� Obama said. 鈥淚t will take time to root them out.鈥� This rooting out will not be the job of US forces, however, he stressed. 鈥淚t must be the job of local forces, with training and air support鈥� from the US-led coalition.

The US military has hit IS with more than 5,000 airstrikes since the campaign began, Obama added, which in turn has 鈥渢aken out thousands of fighting positions, tanks, vehicles, [and] training camps鈥� as well as 鈥渢housands of fighters, including senior ISIL commanders,鈥� he added, using another acronym for the Islamic State.

This figure increased notably over the weekend, as the US military began 鈥渄oing more in Syria from the air,鈥� as Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter put it during a press conference earlier聽Monday. 鈥淚 think you saw some of that in recent days,鈥� he suggested to the press.聽

The 鈥渙pportunity to do that,鈥� Secretary Carter said, has of late come from 鈥渆ffective action on the ground by Kurdish forces, which gives us the opportunity to support them tactically,鈥� he added. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what we were doing over the weekend, north of Raqqa,聽[Syria]."

This is where Syrian Kurdish forces have been able to provide the US military with more targets on the ground. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 the manner in which effective and lasting defeat of ISIL will occur,鈥� Carter said. 鈥淲hen there are more effective local forces on the ground. So they can take territory, hold territory, and make sure good governance comes in behind it.鈥�

It is a point that Obama emphasized, as well: 鈥淲hen we have an effective partner on the ground, ISIL can be pushed back.鈥澛�

Local partnerships are key to the current US strategy under Obama, who聽on Monday聽reiterated that he will try聽to speed up the training of anti-IS forces, including Syrian moderates and volunteers from the Sunni tribes in the Anbar province of Iraq.聽

The US struggles against IS to date 鈥渉ighlight the challenges of finding good partners to work with,鈥� says Paul Scharre, senior fellow with the Center for a New American Security in Washington and a former special operations reconnaissance team leader with the US Army鈥檚 3rd Ranger Battalion.

It also raises a key question: 鈥淯ltimately, do we need US boots on the ground to take cities from ISIS?鈥�

Mr. Scharre argues not. 鈥淥bviously, it doesn鈥檛 gain anything for the US to go in and clear cities on their own if Iraqi forces can鈥檛 hold these areas,鈥� he says. 鈥淏ut once you have partners, you can bring to bear more tools like American air power to support them.鈥�

Sen. John McCain (R) of Arizona, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, promptly issued a statement making it clear that he was unimpressed by Obama鈥檚 remarks, which 鈥渞eveal the disturbing degree of self-delusion that characterizes the administration鈥檚 campaign against IS,鈥� he said. 鈥淣one of the so-called progress that the president cited suggests that we are on a path to success, and when you are not winning in warfare, you are losing.鈥�

It is a point lawmakers including Senator McCain are certain to take up when Carter and General Dempsey come before the Senate Armed Services Committee to discuss the same topic聽Tuesday聽morning.