James Jeffrey. Questions or objections. PBS. 23 Nov 2015.

1.      Jeffrey: In terms of taking down ISIS as a State and as an Army, we have to go on the offensive. That requires ground Troops. We’ve tried for 15 months to create a set of ground Troops from the Units and Entities and Forces on the ground that we have. It isn’t working all that well. We don’t have the Time to keep trying to do this. Some insertion of US Forces both as advisers, Special Forces and some ground manœuver Units are absolutely necessary to move this forward.

2.      Jeffrey: General Jack Keane in Congressional testimony on the 18th talked about two Brigades to be deployed, and that would be about 10,000 Combat Troops to stand by to move forward if needed as we try this expanded incremental approach the President is suggesting.

3.      Jeffrey: What he will be asking for a far more aggressive American Campaign against ISIS, because if he doesn’t get a Yes, an affirmative answer to that, he’s going to in any case go after Moscow and ask the same thing to Putin. Putin has perhaps one-tenth of our military capabilities, but Putin will give him an affirmative on a very aggressive Campaign against ISIS, so we’re going to have that one way or the other.

4.      Jeffrey: Gwen, in this Business, we can never be totally sure. But I’m about as sure as I ever can be that if we tried to throw our weigh behind this unholy Coalition of Assad, the Russians, and the Iranians, we would ensure that ISIS will not only survive but prosper, because the entire Arab Sunni World and Turkey will throw their weight against us on this. This is a double-barreled problem we have. The Assad Regime, which helped create ISIS, and is now supported by Russians and Iran, and ISIS itself. The way to do this is to keep Assad out of the Battle and take the fight to ISIS. ISIS has 30,000 Troops, we have about 200-300,000 of our Ally Troops, but they don’t have the capability to take the offensive without America leading.

5.      Jeffrey: First of all, I think it’s in the center of the Middle East. Secondly, we have Allies to northern Turkey and south in Israel and Jordan, and we have extraordinary interest. President Obama has acknowledge it time and time again. He acknowledges we are fighting a War against ISIS. His goal is to destroy it, he said that again yesterday. The question is, How to do that? And our long-term goals are to try to bring some kind of resurrection of State System in these very, very fragile Countries, because they can’t stand up to these Movements otherwise.