Fmr. Defense Secretary Gates: U.S. Will Need Ground Forces To Destroy ISIS

"The reality is they are not going to be able to be successful against ISIS strictly from the air, or strictly depending on the Iraqi forces, or the Peshmerga, or the Sunni tribes, acting on their own. So there will be boots on the ground, if there is to be any hope of success in this strategy. And I think that by continuing to repeat that, the president in facts traps himself. I am also concerned that the goal has been stated as 'degrade and destroy,' or 'degrade and defat' ISIS. We've been at war with al Qaeda for 13 years. We have dealt them some terrible blows, including the killing of Osama bin Laden, but I don't think that anybody would say that after 13 years we've destroyed or defeated al Qaeda. So I think to promise that we are going to destroy ISIS or ISIL, sets a goal that may be unattainable, as opposed to devastating it, or as the vice president would out it, 'following them to the gates of hell' and dealing them terrible blows that prevent them from holding territory. Those are probably realistic goals."