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Gen. Odierno: We Can't 'Destroy ISIS' Without Boots on the Ground
Wednesday, December 9, 2015 12:27 PM
By: Cathy Burke
Crushing the Islamic State is impossible without boots on the ground, former Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno says.
In an interview on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" Wednesday, Odierno also said the United States has "to build trust in the Middle East," agreeing it's not there among Gulf States allies.
"I get frustrated on this thing about 'no boots on the ground.' Well, we have boots on the ground. They're special operations forces, there are soldiers, and I think we have to have a short-term plan which allows our people to get on the ground."
"You can't defeat ISIS, or destroy ISIS without having people on the ground."
"The intelligence we're missing is the intelligence you gain on the ground. We need unit intelligence," he added.
"Special ops can only do so much," he said of U.S. forces already in place. "Let the people on the ground tell you 'this is what we need.'"
Air strikes alone won't reign in the Islamic jihadists, he argues.
"It's not going to happen, it's never happened in history, it's not going to happen now," he said.
And Odierno says he's "surprised" at the lack of conversation about a coalition to fight the Islamic State.
"The Kurds are only going to do so much," Odierno said of the regional group President Barack Obama has called a partner in the war against ISIS.
"You need a plan that goes after Iraq, that goes after Syria."
