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U.S. Commitment Key to Defeating ISIL

Fighters on the ground in Syria and Iraq will be empowered by active support.

U.S. forces will need to be actively supporting other nations’ ground forces if the Islamic State in the Levant (ISIL) is to be defeated and removed as a threat, said two leading members of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. Speaking at a plenary session during the AFCEA/INSA Intelligence and National Security Summit 2014, being held September 18-19 in Washington, D.C., the congressmen presented a bipartisan approach to several key intelligence issues.

Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-MD), ranking member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said the United States needs to make a clear commitment to the world. “We have to show the world that we’re strong,” he stated. “We’re going to protect our country.”

Yet, this commitment does not involve a major U.S. ground campaign to root out ISIL. “Our people don’t want us to have another two-to-three years in a war in Iraq,” he said. “Arab countries need to put boots on the ground.”

Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI), chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, acknowledged the need for a U.S. involvement in the ground war. “If the boots on the ground are to work, you will have to have U.S. personnel with special capabilities downrange,” he declared. This expertise includes intelligence collectors and those specializing in command and control logistics. ”Without this, it won’t work,” he stated.

The United States should work with “anyone who doesn’t just hate us outright,” Rogers added, saying ISIL is “just a bunch of criminal thugs who slit people’s throats and rape women.”

Rogers noted Saudi Arabia is publicly acknowledging that it will be a part of this fight. “This is huge. Others will join as a result,” he said. Warfighters who are fighting against U.S. enemies, and they are taking casualties. They could use a friend, he pointed out.

“It’s amazing how much courage people develop when they know the United States is standing with them,” Rogers offered. “We’re in a good position to have a lasting impact if we don’t lose our nerve.”