Dem blasts 'conspiracy of silence' in ISIS fight

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) said late Tuesday that a “conspiracy of silence” among his colleagues is allowing the fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) to continue without congressional authorization.

“I'm frustrated that we're now more than four months into war — that's what the administration calls it — 1,100 air strikes, 1,500 combat advisers there, another 1,500 coming, three deaths in Operation Inherent Resolve of American troops, over a billion dollars spent,” he said on MSNBC.

“But there's been a conspiracy of silence about it here on the Hill.”

He said he is hoping that Congress will pass a measure authorizing the use of force against the terrorist group but added that he did not think the measure should include the use of ground troops.

“We should be providing airstrikes to support the ground efforts of the Iraqi military, the Kurdish peshmerga, vetted elements of the Syrian opposition,” he said. “But there's no amount of American ground troops that can beat extremism in a region that won't police its own extremism.”

Kaine spoke amid a broader debate over the administration’s decision to assist Iraqi and Kurdish forces in the fight against ISIS.

Some say that authorizations for force that were produced in the years at the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, cover the U.S.’s airstrikes and advisory troops in Iraq. Kaine said he disagreed with that assessment.

The U.S. is likely to become more involved in Iraq in the coming months. In the spring, Iraq will launch an offensive aimed at recapturing territory held by ISIS. A top U.S. military official has said he would not rule out American troops fighting alongside Iraqi’s on more complex missions.

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