The Obama administration is living in "fantasyland" if it thinks Americans are buying its no-ground-troops strategy on fighting the Islamic State (ISIS), Rep. Marsha Blackburn says.
Blackburn, a Tennessee Republican, adds that Secretary of State John Kerry's flip-flopping on whether the U.S. is "at war" with ISIS mirrors his boss's confusing take on the problem.
"Bear in mind, this is pretty much the way they have operated since they went into office," Blackburn, a Tennessee Republican, said Monday on "The Steve Malzberg Show" on
Newsmax TV.
Vote Now: Should Congress Back Obama War Plan? Vote Here
Story continues below video.
Note: Watch Newsmax TV now on DIRECTV Ch. 349 and DISH Ch. 223
Get Newsmax TV on your cable system – Click Here Now
"Words matter, actions matter . . . You can't just go say [we've] changed all the rules and well, now being at war is going to mean something different.
"No, it does not, and they are absolutely living in fantasyland if they think the American people are buying this."
The Obama administration has said it has no plans for "boots on the ground" in battling ISIS and wants a coalition of nations to help fight the Islamic extremist group, which has been slaughtering Christians throughout Iraq as it attempts to establish a religious state.
According to
The New York Times, the White House says a number of Arab countries have now committed to joining the airstrikes against ISIS, also known as ISIL, but it has stopped short of naming them.
Officials have said, however, that a sustained and coordinated campaign may take time to get under way because of the need to stabilize, train, and equip Iraqi forces, and Kurdish and Syrian rebels on the ground.
Blackburn , who is vice chairwoman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said the Obama administration is well aware that a successful military campaign against the Islamic State must include ground troops.
"They know that if you're going to do airstrikes you've got to have some boots on the ground, and if you're going to have some boots on the ground, then you're going to have to make a decision about American troops," she said.
"They're trying to say, well, in Iraq we don't have boots on the ground. As of this week, we will have 1600 troops in Iraq."
Blackburn said she has consulted many retired military and active duty military personnel from her district and they agree the president's strategy is unworkable.
"They have said, look, the president is trying to say, 'well, we can do this halfway' and it's just not going to happen like that," she said.
"They understand that you've got to go at this full throttle in order to win this. This is a very, very dangerous al-Qaida-linked terrorist organization, period."
Blackburn is urging the Obama administration to consult Congress on its ongoing campaign against ISIS, which last week beheaded a British aid worker.
"My hope would be that he will come to Congress and that he will work with us," she said.
"We are pleased the president has taken a first step toward action . . . It has got to be something more aggressive.
"We would like for him to be able to fulfill his promise to the American people that he is going to destroy and defeat ISIS."
Blackburn said the nation still remembers Obama's 2009 "apology tour," in which he traveled through Europe and the Middle East and "apologized for the sins of America" caused by his presidential predecessors.
"At that point, [White House Press Secretary] Robert Gibbs . . . said that this had changed the image of America around the world . . . this was something that was going to make us safe and stronger," Blackburn said.
"What it did was to provide the impression that we are a soft power, that we lack the will, that we lack the ability and the drive to go in here and be an aggressive leader to annihilate this terrorist cell."
Vote Now: Should Congress Back Obama War Plan? Vote Here
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.