NBC: Obama Has ‘Long Struggled To Explain’ His ISIS Strategy

NBC: Obama ‘Has Long Struggled to Explain’ Islamic State Strategy and is ‘Struggling Again’ (The Washington Free Beacon)

The Obama administration has “long struggled to explain its strategy” against the Islamic State terrorist group, NBC reporter Richard Engel said Wednesday, and it’s “struggling again” as there appears to be a gap between the White House and the Pentagon regarding the potential use of ground troops against the organization.

“This administration has long struggled to explain its strategy against ISIS, and it’s struggling again with the White House insisting nothing has changed even as the Pentagon is considering an expanded role for U.S. troops in both Iraq and Syria,” Engel said on The Today Show.

Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced a shift in U.S. policy Tuesday toward the use of “direct action on the ground” to combat IS, which has seized large swathes of Iraq and Syria since the summer of 2014. President Obama had previously said there would be no U.S. ground troops used to fight the Islamic State.