Page 9 - Air Controllers News Today

>> we have not. >> not told them yet. >> he left the door open for a small number of american troops working as forward air controllers to assist in calling in air strikes to help iraqi forces. >> i agree the -- there are points on the battlefield where the president embed software would make them more capable. >> the administration says there are no plans for more u.s. forces. >> in order for us to succeed long term in this fight against isil we have to develop local security forces that can su...

But a major problem, getting fighters willing to promise to only fight isis in syria, not syrian president bashar al assads reseem. senator john mccain furious at the pentagon for what he views as a failure to protect the syrians. >> i would like to have answers to the questions. will we tell them that we will defend them against bashar al assads barrel bombing? will we tell them that? >> we have not told them that. >> reporter: the joint chief chairman leaving the door open for a small number o...

>> thaur >> thank you, ari, i appreciate it. developing now, defense secretary ashton carter and general martin dempsey have been facing some pretty tough questions on the strategy to beat back isis. they are testifying before the senate armed services committee, chairman john mccain, who has been highly critical of the presidents strategy including syria. >> isil is not 10 feet tall. it can be and must be defeated. but that will never happen if we continue to delude ourselves about our current ...

>> listen to the presidents interview. listen to the word we and wonder who he is talking about, last week. president obama reacted said quote, i dont think were losing. well have to ramp up but not just training but also commitment and we better get sunni tribes more activated than they currently have been. weve eight months into what we already anticipated to a multi-year campaign. senator john mccain slammed the presidents approach on "meet the press" on sunday. no surprise there. here he is....

Charles said, this is an increasingly fictitious government who does not run akrot the country. maybe we should do all of the things that chashls suggest but the next question is because of the one raised by senator mccain forward air controllers. the thing about forward air controllers is they are forward. you mentioned they might be killed or wounded. they also might be captured. i want you to think about that. the first time isis captures an american isis is a little bit pregeneva in its trea...

To change the kinds of support were giving to the iraqi forces well make that recommendation. but what happened at ramadi was a failure of the iraqi forces to fight and so our efforts now are devoted to providing their ground forces with the equipment, the training and -- to try to encourage their will to fight, so that our campaign enabling them can be successful both in defeating isil and keeping isil defeated in a sustained way. these things we need to -- >> they can sure understand you. you ...

Weather and its impact on those air strikes. more importantly, the shias and the iraqi army do not have the will to fight toe-to-toe with the sunnis and isis. >> we need to have a robust strategy. we need more troops on the ground. we need forward air controllers. were just referring to air strikes. 75% of those combat missions return to base without having fired a weapon. it is because we dont have somebody on the ground who can identify a static moving target. >> after more than a decade of tr...

>> reporter: the prosecuting is in the process of training some 5,000 syrian rebels to help fight isis and the assad regime. real weak link in this program is how to provide air cover once they return to the battlefield in syria. now president obamas made it very clear that he will not put american troops on the ground in syria, meaning no american forward air controllers or spotters to help guide u.s. jets. but turkish officials said today that they have reached an agreement in principle with t...

Mccain saying you are going to need 10,000 u.s. ground troops to beat back this isis threat to win the war against them. >> we need to have a robust strategy. we need more troops on the ground. more air controllers. just referring to air strikes. you know 75% of those combat missions return to base without having fired a weapon? because we dont have somebody on the ground who can identify a static moving target. >> reporter: you have people like him calling for more forces. that is not on the ta...

Again. global affairs analyst and contributor to "the daily beast." i want you to listen to what senator john mccain said earlier foed today. >> first to have the president recognize he was incorrect when he said were not losing we need to have a robust strategy we need more troops on the ground we need air controllers. were just referring to air strikes. do you know that 75% of those combat missions return to base without having fired a weapon? its because we dont have somebody on the ground wh...