Which Boots on the Ground Can We Trust?
"I do think boots on the ground are necessary to achieve the mission... but the face of the boots on the ground ought to be a Muslim face from the region," says Jane Harman in this interview on Morning Joe.
Jane Harman and Dan Senor join Morning Joe to discuss how the U.S. should respond to the threat of ISIS.
"I think he should say 'no' on boots on the ground, no American boots. I do think boots on the ground are necessary to achieve the mission. What we are doing with air power is hopefully clearing or at least degrading ISIL, but we have to hold the ground; someone has to hold the ground. If the Iraq state holds together, the new government, those are the folks that will do it. In Syria it's much dicier, that's why we are training 5,000 people in Saudi Arabia, and perhaps in Jordan, to do that mission. There will be US special forces, and maybe local special forces, on the ground but I think that in this case, given our history, the face of the boots on the ground ought to be a Muslim face from the region. "
Contributor
Jane Harman
Jane Harman, Distinguished Fellow and President Emerita, Wilson Center, is an internationally recognized authority on U.S. and global security issues, foreign relations and lawmaking. A native of Los Angeles and a public-school graduate, she went on to become a nine-term member of Congress, serving decades on the major security committees in the House of Representatives. Drawing upon a career that has included service as President Carter’s Secretary of the Cabinet and hundreds of diplomatic missions to foreign countries, Harman holds posts on nearly a dozen governmental and non-governmental advisory boards and commissions.
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Middle East Program
The Wilson Center’s Middle East Program serves as a crucial resource for the policymaking community and beyond, providing analyses and research that helps inform US foreign policymaking, stimulates public debate, and expands knowledge about issues in the wider Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Read more
