Officials to make case on fight against Islamic State

More than eight months after U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine and others began agitating for the Obama administration to seek congressional approval for military action against the Islamic State group, senior administration officials will make their case to a Senate panel Wednesday.

Secretary of State John Kerry, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter and Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the joint chiefs, are set to appear before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday morning.

After their testimony, the senators will likely begin reviewing the president’s request for authorization legislation that would define the depth of U.S. involvement in fighting the Islamic militant organization, Kaine said in a telephone interview.

Since September, the U.S. has conducted the lion’s share of air strikes against the group, which controls sections of Syria and Iraq. A bigger question: whether American ground forces should go after the militants, also known as ISIL or ISIS.

Kaine argues that any ground combat – with some exceptions – should be handled by countries in the region.

“If we’re flying over 90 percent of the air campaign and we have a significant ground troop presence, then it is not the region policing its own terrorism,” he said. “It is the U.S. against ISIL.”

He noted – as he has repeatedly said to Senate colleagues and administration officials – that the rulers of Jordan and Qatar have made clear they believe ground combat should be left to Muslim countries.

The message from those leaders, he said, is that “this terrorist group does not exist because of the United States. ‘It was born and bred in this region. It is claiming a mantle of religious authority that is a perversion of our religion. It is our battle to beat ISIL.’”

Kaine was a vocal opponent of Obama’s decision in September to launch offensive military strikes without congressional approval. The Virginia Democrat has said legislators cannot ignore their duty to decide when the U.S. should take military action. The president has said the air strikes are allowed under Congress’ post-9/11 military authorization aimed at fighting al-Qaeda and affiliated groups.

Air attacks against ISIL are underway almost daily – a dozen coalition air assaults were conducted Monday and early Tuesday, according to the Defense Department.

Obama is requesting an authorization that targets the Islamic State for three years. It would continue U.S. air strikes but is not specific about the use of ground troops, stating that the U.S. would not be allowed to engage in “enduring offensive ground combat operations.”

Obama said in a Feb. 11 message to Congress that he doesn’t support large-scale U.S. combat operations, but wants authorization for troops to participate in “limited circumstances” such as rescue missions or special operations forces actions against leaders.

Kaine said Tuesday that president’s language is too open-ended. “How long is ‘enduring?’” he asked.

The senator proposed legislation in September that would specifically prohibit the use of U.S. ground troops except for rescue missions and “limited operations against high value targets.”

Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker said this week that Obama’s request, as written, won’t pass the Senate. He also said sharp divides between Republican defense hawks and Democrats who worry about escalation to a larger conflict might block the request from ever getting out of the committee.

Obama “cannot get one single Democratic vote from what he’s sent over. And he certainly wouldn’t get Democratic votes for something Republicans might be slightly more comfortable with,” said the Tennessee Republican. “It’s quite a dilemma.”

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