President Obama’s strategy for dealing with the spread of the Islamic State, the ultra-violent extremist group that has terrorized much of the Middle East, is muddled at best and incoherent at worst, according to certain NBC News pundits.
“This administration has long struggled to explain its strategy against ISIS,” NBC’s Richard Engel said Wednesday.
And it continues to struggle, he added, now that the Obama administration and the Pentagon appear to be at odds over how best to combat the violent Islamic group.
“[I]t’s struggling again with the White House insisting nothing has changed even as the Pentagon is considering an expanded role for U.S. troops in both Iraq and Syria,” Engel said.
Defense Secretary Ash Carter signaled this week that U.S. troops would be used for “direct action on the ground” against ISIS. This would appear to stand in direct opposition to Obama’s long-held promise that no troops would be deployed to fight the extremist group.
“[D]irect action on the ground sounds a lot different from what the president has repeatedly promised,” Engel said.
“The White House seems to want it both ways, saying no regular troops will be in combat. Only small numbers of special ops forces will do that,” he added. “To some, it’s Washington doublespeak.”
NBC terrorism analyst Col. Jack Jacobs was just as unimpressed with the lack of clarity from the Obama administration.
“Anybody in combat is boots on the ground,” he said. “The White House has been trying to play politics here and try to convince everybody that special operations forces are not boots on the ground.”
Engel added that whether the White House wants to admit it or not, America is getting “deeper into the war” against ISIS.
(h/t Washington Free Beacon)
