Obama: There are "circumstances in which the United States might need to deploy U.S. ground troops"

[grahamhgreen]

Quote: “There are always circumstances in which the United States might need to deploy U.S. ground troops” (in Iraq)

http://www.cnn.com/2014/11/15/us/isis-hagel-troops/

EDIT: Basically, "We can't let the smoking gun be a mushroom cloud".

Heard this all before.

[Agnosticsherbet]

1. If ISIS gets a nuclear weapons if the circumstnce.

Because only Israel, Pakistan, India and Turkey (through their NATO allies) have nuclear weapons avaialble. That is a very, very unlikely circumstance.

[grahamhgreen]

14. Note the S - circumstanceS

[99th_Monkey]

2. What those "circumstances" are = ISIS To Do List nt

[Zorra]

3. Huh. Is Occupy acting up again? nt

[samsingh]

4. speaking like this before the midterms would have gotten us more votes

[Mass]

5. Not a surprise, but the fact that advisers continue to recommend using talking points rather than

leveling with the American people is kind of tiresome and has created more than one problem with this administration (If you like your doctor, you can keep it, for example).

Do those people who advise Obama on communication issues really think that we are too stupid to get nuances?

[Quackers]

24. I think it falls under the idea that

It's easier to ask forgiveness than permission.

[R.Quinn]

6. This quote

brought to you by neocons.

[CJCRANE]

7. Is he telegraphing/foreshadowing something?

The whole "redline" comment came true in the end.

And both Obama and Cheney have mentioned similar new circumstances in their comments a couple of times.

[grahamhgreen]

8. Of course he's telegraphing. This is the soft sell for perpetual war.

[pampango]

9. He probably thinks that is a logical statement but it will raise hopes (from the right) and fears

(from the left) all out of proportion to its bland nature. Obviously, for every president there are conceivable circumstances that would warrant ground troops.

At the G20 summit in Australia, President Obama said that he had not changed his mind about U.S. ground forces when it comes to Iraq.

He still does not plan to deploy them, and Dempsey "has not advised me that I should be sending U.S. troops to fight," he said.

But the President did not rule it out completely, if confronted with the most dire of dangers.

"There are always circumstances, in which the United States might need to deploy ground troops," Obama said. "If we discovered that ISIL had gotten possession of a nuclear weapon, and we had to run an operation to get it out of their hands, then yes, you can anticipate that not only would Chairman Dempsey recommend me sending U.S. ground troops to get that weapon out of their hands, but I would order it."

Of course, if he know that IS had a nuclear weapon, did nothing about it and that weapon was used, there would not be another Democrat president elected in my lifetime. He make think that is a self-evident statement but he is neglecting the partisan use of it.

[dixiegrrrrl]

10. "No boots on the ground in Iraq"

has morphed into "maybe"
much to no one's surprise.

"If ISIS gets a nuclear weapon" eh?
Is Obama planning to send Kerry to the UN with "proof" of Yellowcake......errr, I mean nuclear weapons?

Edited to add..
remember, we have already gone from NO troops in Iran ( just gonna train Iraqis in Jordan, etc)
to "just a few troops, to help target ISIS" ( because apparently no Iraqi troops can aim anything at ISIS&quot
To "There will be no American combat troops in Iraq or Syria.", according to Hagel
while at same time
"Gen. Martin Dempsey has suggested at least twice that a recommendation of ground troops could come,"

And meanwhile, we continue to drone the hell out of whoever is in our sights in N.Iraq and Syria.

[grahamhgreen]

16. Ah, yellow cake.... and "We can't let the smoking gun be a mushroom cloud". Same tricks, different

trickster.

[grahamhgreen]

12. Ok, let's play, ISIL has a nuke, if you know where it is you send a cruise missile, if not, you send

Last edited Mon Nov 17, 2014, 09:32 PM - Edit history (1)

your ground troops.

You're too late already.

He's just prepping the dem base to support an xtension of the neo-con policy to enter into the perpetual war in the Middle East that's been raging for 1409 years.

[pnwmom]

18. Saying he will NEVER send ground troops no matter what send the wrong message to IS.

We are better off if they think that threat is a possibility, however remote.

[City Lights]

11. I hear Dubya is free!

Send him over!

[TheKentuckian]

13. Go, go Mighty, Morphing Warmongers!

[bigwillq]

15. Yuck. We need to stay out of the Middle East.

We are wasting money and lives.

[pnwmom]

17. Is he supposed to guarantee to IS that he will never send ground troops to Iraq no matter what?

That no matter what they do, we will never send ground troops there. Period.

And this helps our position how?

[grahamhgreen]

19. That is what he already did, correct? Here:

Funny you should ask, mom:

“I want to be clear,” Mr. Obama said to a gymnasium full of troops at MacDill Air Force Base outside Tampa, the headquarters of the military’s Central Command, which oversees operations in the Middle East. “The American forces that have been deployed to Iraq do not and will not have a combat mission. They will support Iraqi forces on the ground as they fight for their own country against these terrorists.

“As your commander in chief,” Mr. Obama added, “I will not commit you and the rest of our armed forces to fighting another ground war in Iraq.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/18/us/politics/obama-promises-again-not-to-send-ground-troops-to-fight-militants.html

So, as you asked, that "helps our position how"?? Why did he say that? Was he simply trying to lead the American people slowly down a path that he knew would lead to escalation and more profits for military contractors at the expense of our troops?

Or, did he have a more astute strategy by speaking those words?

[pnwmom]

20. Then I think that was a mistake. It doesn't help to show our hand.

I don't want him to send ground groups to Iraq.

But I don't think he should be broadcasting this position to IS through the US -- and worldwide -- media.

[grahamhgreen]

22. I agree.

[woo me with science]

21. Here it comes,

just as predicted...

[grahamhgreen]

23. "We can't afford the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud" is essentially his argument, much

like Condi's.

I think they want to keep kicking the hornets nest until we get stung, then use that as an excuse for more and more war and austerity.