By Damian Paletta And Kristina Peterson
President Barack Obama said that U.S. intelligence officials
"underestimated what had been taking place in Syria," and that
several years of political chaos in the country had created an
environment for Islamic State to thrive in Syria and Iraq.
"This became ground zero for Jihadists around the world," he
said in an interview with CBS's 60 Minutes program, according to an
excerpt aired by CBS on Sunday morning.
He said Islamic State, which is also known as ISIS or ISIL, was
able to attract former members of the late Iraqi leader Saddam
Hussein's military and bring a more sophisticated military strategy
to the movement. This "gave them some traditional military capacity
and not just terrorist capacity."
He said U.S. and international partners, particularly in the
Middle East, would have to "come up with political solutions in
Iraq and Syria," but the near-term plan was to destabilize
ISIL.
"We just have to push them back and shrink their space and go
after their command and control...and work to eliminate the flow of
foreign fighters," he said.
The full 60 Minutes program is slated to air Sunday evening.
Also on CBS, White House deputy national security adviser Tony
Blinken said the U.S. military would continue airstrikes but not
send troops into the conflicts.
"We've been clear that there will not be a U.S. ground invasion
of Iraq or Syria," he said. He left the door open, however, to the
idea that a "no fly zone" could be established over Syria at some
point.
On ABC News "This Week," House Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio)
indicated that sending in American combat troops could become
necessary to eliminate the threat posed by Islamic State.
While Mr. Obama has said he opposes sending in U.S. "boots on
the ground" to destroy the Islamic State militants, Mr. Boehner
suggested U.S. combat troops might be needed if the international
coalition cannot defeat the militants.
"At some point somebody's boots have to be on the ground," Mr.
Boehner said. So far the White House and its allies have deployed
airstrikes against the militants and are preparing to train
pro-Western Syrian rebels on the ground.
Earlier this month, Congress authorized the White House to train
and equip the moderate Syrian rebels to fight against Islamic State
extremists. But many Republicans have said they are not convinced
the administration's strategy will be forceful enough to eradicate
the danger posed by the militants.
"Maybe we can get enough of these forces trained and get them on
the battlefield," Mr. Boehner said. But if the international
coalition doesn't come together, "we have no choice," Mr. Boehner
said of the possibility of sending in U.S. fighters. "These are
barbarians. They intend to kill us. And if we don't destroy them
first, we're going to pay the price."
Write to Damian Paletta at damian.paletta@wsj.com and Kristina
Peterson at kristina.peterson@wsj.com
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