http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2014/09/16/were-already-talking-about-sending-in-ground-troops/
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So are we already getting “mission creep” when the mission has barely begun? Maybe not — this is hypothetical, after all — but it shows that there isn’t as clear a line as you might think between having “boots on the ground” and not having said boots upon said ground.
One thing everyone has agreed on up until now is that we shouldn’t be re-invading Iraq, sending tens of thousands of troops there to fight and occupy large areas of land. President Obama has been particularly emphatic on this point, likely for both political and personal reasons. He knows that the American people have no appetite to re-run the Iraq War, and it’s the last thing he wants. No single issue meant more to his election for president in 2008 than ending that war, and it’s safe to say he’s horrified by the possibility that his presidency could be dragged down by the seemingly endless consequences of George W. Bush’s war.
But look around at what has been said even by people who ostensibly agree that we shouldn’t launch an invasion, and it’s clear there is an appetite for some boots, perhaps treading lightly, upon the ground. We’re already sending some troops to Iraq, where they’re going to do things like assist with intelligence and coordination. And they’ll be doing some training. After that, it’s a short hop to say, as Dempsey did, maybe some of our Special Forces guys will go out on a few missions with Iraqi army units. And then maybe they’ll handle some very focused missions on their own, like taking out a high-value ISIS target. And then those missions might have to expand, meaning we need some more of those boots. And then…well, you get the idea.
As Dempsey suggests, pressure to put in more ground troops could build if things are going less than perfectly. And things going less than perfectly may not be a 100 percent certainty, but it’s pretty likely.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2014/09/16/were-already-talking-about-sending-in-ground-troops/
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