America’s “ground troops” fiasco: Why Congress must straitjacket the presidency

http://www.salon.com/2014/09/17/americas_ground_troops_fiasco_why_congress_must_straitjacket_the_presidency/



President can't imagine ever deploying combat forces vs. ISIS. What if he changes his mind? What about post-2016?

America’s “ground troops” fiasco: Why Congress must straitjacket the presidency
Jim Newell
Wednesday, Sep 17, 2014 06:58 AM EST

A Tuesday Senate hearing featuring Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, did not go especially well for the White House’s war-messaging operation. President Obama has been explicit in ruling out the deployment of ground combat troops to Syria and Iraq. But it didn’t take Senate inquisitors all that much effort to get Dempsey to spill out scenarios in which he would recommend to the president the use of “military ground forces.” At that point, all that stands between a counterterrorism war-esque type operation and a real live ground war in Syria and Iraq is the president’s judgment. This is problematic.

Dempsey tried simultaneously to endorse the president’s plan while being honest about where the mission could lead. Discordant sound bites ensued:

“My view at this point is that this coalition is the appropriate way forward. I believe that will prove true,” he said. “But if it fails to be true, and if there are threats to the United States, 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.”

~snip~

President Obama may not think that he’d ever in a million-bajillion years come to the point where he’d want to send ground troops to fight ISIS. Nice to hear. But let’s apply a straitjacket just to be sure.