French Ambassador Calls for Ground Troops to Fight Islamic State

French Ambassador Calls For Ground Troops To Fight Islamic State (The Washington Free Beacon)

French Ambassador to the United States Gerard Araud told Andrea Mitchell Wednesday morning that air strikes would not be enough to defeat the Islamic States, and that ground troops would be needed.

“Now we are striking with the Russians and also with the Americans, because we have a common enemy, obviously, which is ISIS [the Islamic State],” Araud said. “But you don’t win a war with planes, so we need ground forces.

Araud said that French President Francois Hollande believes ground forces would be necessary to recapture territory in Syria from the Islamic caliphate. He also said a political transition would be needed to end the civil war between rebel forces and the Assad regime.