Obama stresses U.S. forces in Iraq will advise, not join combat

GWEN IFILL:

Questions swirled today around the U.S. strategy for destroying Islamic State forces in Iraq and Syria, topping the list, whether U.S. troops will or will not get involved in fighting on the ground.

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA:

I want to be clear, the American forces that have been deployed to Iraq do not and will not have a combat mission.

GWEN IFILL:

The president underscored his policy at U.S. Central Command in Tampa, headquarters for operations in the Middle East. Hundreds of U.S. special forces are already in Iraq, but Mr. Obama insisted they are only there as advisers.

BARACK OBAMA:

They will support Iraqi forces on the ground as they fight for their own country against these terrorists. As your commander in chief, I will not commit you and the rest of our armed forces to fighting another ground war in Iraq.

GWEN IFILL:

White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the president would consider sending U.S. advisers out with Iraqi troops, but — quote — "They wouldn't be personally or directly engaging the enemy." The chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Army General Martin Dempsey, told a Senate hearing yesterday that under specific circumstances U.S. forces could ramp up.

GEN. MARTIN DEMPSEY, Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff: If we reach the point where I believe our advisers should accompany Iraq troops on attacks against specific ISIL targets, I will recommend that to the president.

If I found that circumstance evolving, that I would, of course, change my recommendation, but for the day-to-day activities that I anticipate will evolve over time, I don't see it to be necessary right now.

GWEN IFILL:

Today, Dempsey and Army Chief of Staff General Ray Odierno followed up, saying airstrikes in Iraq alone will not be enough to drive back the Islamic State group. Instead, they said rebuilding a competent Iraqi military is the key after its collapse in the face of Islamic State attacks.

FUAD HUSSEIN, Presidential Chief of Staff, Kurdish Regional Government: There is also a reality, which is that the majority of the Iraqi army system collapsed.

GWEN IFILL:

Fuad Hussein is chief of staff to Massoud Barzani, president of the Kurdish region in Northern Iraq. The "NewsHour"'s Margaret Warner spoke with him this morning in Washington, where he's pressing for military aid.

MARGARET WARNER:

Do you think that U.S. military personnel would have to be on the ground embedded with these units?

FUAD HUSSEIN:

We think we can do the job. American support is very important to us. And if the airstrike will continue and if we will get heavy weapons like tanks and artilleries, I think we can do the job.

MARGARET WARNER:

But if the American people want to know how long this commitment will need to be, what would you say?

FUAD HUSSEIN:

I don't think it will take long. I mean, destroying main bases — main bases of ISIS, it will not take a long time, but to uproot ISIS as a terrorist organization, it will take a long time.

GWEN IFILL:

Hussein said Americans need to understand they, too, have a vital interest at stake.

FUAD HUSSEIN:

ISIS terrorists, they are not only dangerous for us. If they will stay somewhere, they will come to other places in the world. They are dangerous also for the United States. So our fight is your fight.

GWEN IFILL:

The secretary of homeland security, Jeh Johnson, and FBI Director James Comey expanded on that theme at a House hearing. They warned the risk of attack rises as the Islamic State and al-Qaida jockey for primacy.

JEH JOHNSON, Secretary of Homeland Security: These groups are in competition with one another for attention, for fund-raising, for recruitment, and one way to compete is to show that you're the biggest and baddest group out there.

JAMES COMEY, Director, FBI:

The logic of it is compelling. You're not going to be the leader in the global jihad without striking America.

GWEN IFILL:

Later, on the Senate side, Secretary of State John Kerry talked up efforts to build a coalition against the Islamic State. The president says 40 nations are taking part, but there have been questions about who is contributing what.

JOHN KERRY, Secretary of State: Not every country will decide that their role is to have some kind of military engagement, but every country can do something. And we will show exactly what that means.

GWEN IFILL:

Also unsettled, a House debate over providing $500 million dollars to train Syrian rebels to fight Islamic State forces. Democrats like California's Loretta Sanchez said they're worried about the unknowns.

REP. LORETTA SANCHEZ, (D) California: I would really like to know who our coalition is and what they're really going to do before I vote for any plan. What don't we know? We don't know how moderate these Syrian rebels really are. We don't know if somewhere down the line they will turn our guns right back on us.

GWEN IFILL:

But some Republicans argued the president's plan doesn't go far enough. Still, lawmakers like Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida said they were likely to back the request.

REP. ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, (R) Florida: If our military officials believe that it is absolutely necessary to use the U.S. military on the ground, I would fully support that. We cannot take anything off the table and showcase to the terrorists what we are not willing to do.

GWEN IFILL:

The Senate could take up the funding resolution as early as tomorrow.

The final vote in the House was 273 to 156. We will return to the issue of what it will take to defeat Islamic State fighters right after the news summary.