Jeb: ‘Not Sure’ Boots on the Ground ‘Necessary’ Vs ISIS

Republican presidential candidate and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush stated that he would take military advice “very seriously” and use special forces to fight ISIS, but that he wasn’t sure if boots on the ground were “necessary” at Monday’s Voters First Presidential Forum in New Hampshire.

Jeb said, “I would take the advice of the military very seriously. We need a strategy first, this president — two times has admitted that we don’t have a strategy as it relates to ISIS, pretty amazing. I think we need special forces. The idea of boots on the ground, I’m not sure that’s necessary, but special forces, embedding our troops and our trainers…with the Syrian Free Army, training them, at a much faster rate. We’ve spent a half a billion dollars to have 60 people ready to go. I mean, this is absurd, if this is a serious effort, then we need to treat it seriously. And so engaging with the world, creating alliances with our traditional Arab nations that see this threat directly, supporting it with air power and military power, and creating a strategy and sticking with it.”

Jeb added that there is a “political element” to the ISIS fight as well, and that people need to trust that the US will stick around in the Middle East.

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