Retired Marine Gen. James Mattis, who served under Obama until last year, became the latest high-profile skeptic on Thursday, telling the House Intelligence Committee that a blanket prohibition on ground combat was tying the military’s hands. “Half-hearted or tentative efforts, or airstrikes alone, can backfire on us and actually strengthen our foes’ credibility,” he said. “We may not wish to reassure our enemies in advance that they will not see American boots on the ground.”Mattis’s comments came two days after Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, took the rare step of publicly suggesting that a policy already set by the commander in chief could be reconsidered.Despite Obama’s promise that he would not deploy ground combat forces, Dempsey made clear that he didn’t want to rule out the possibility, if only to deploy small teams in limited circumstances. He also acknowledged that Army Gen. Lloyd Austin, the commander for the Middle East, had already recommended doing so in the case of at least one battle in Iraq but was overruled.
Presuming ISIS is unable to export terrorism to the West, the American public is likely to want to see this war over long before the mission objectives have been achieved. That’s a recipe for disaster for Iraq and Syria and, eventually, the world.
Obama’s domestic political considerations are leading him to make calls that his generals are uncomfortable with. They would be serving their boss well by keeping quiet, but Obama will only be the boss for another 28 months. Their duty to posterity is far weightier, and it is understandable – even commendable — that U.S. military brass would want to put all the pressure on Obama that they can to get this war right.
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