Obama afraid to attack ISIL with ground troops: Rep.

A US congressman says President Barack Obama is afraid to send American troops to the battlefield to attack the ISIL terrorist group.
Addressing the Value Voters Summit on Saturday, Tea Party Rep. Jim Bridenstine said Obama planned to arm and train militants in Syria instead of sending troops there.
“This is a threat and it didn’t have to be this way and we have to deal with it in a very serious manner,” he said.
“And you don’t deal with it by saying: ‘You know what, I’m the commander in chief but I don’t want to be the commander in chief, therefore I’m going to train and equip so-called moderate Syrian rebels that have allegiances with al-Qaeda, because I’m afraid to be the commander in chief,” he added.
“If this is a threat to our country, we eliminate it. If not, we don’t,” Bridenstine said. “I say this is a threat to our country and it needs to be dealt with.”
President Barack Obama has authorized airstrikes against ISIL targets in Iraq and Syria, but has repeatedly ruled out American boots on the ground in a combat role.
The US and its allies have been continuously bombing ISIL targets in northeastern Syria since Tuesday.
On Friday, US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey said that international troops would be deployed in Iraq to fight against ISIL if necessary.
The general told reporters he may eventually recommend boots on the ground and those forces would not necessarily be American forces.