A parliamentarian said US President Barack Obama asked Congress to authorize war on the so-called Islamic State (IS) militant group to give the impression that he is taking effective measures on the issue, but the fact is that the United States "dare not conduct a ground operation against the terrorists."
"In view of their defeats in Iraq and Afghanistan, US officials no longer dare mount a ground operation against the terrorists, and Obama's request from Congress to formally authorize war is only meant to convince the American public (that the US government is taking effective measures in this regard)," Ahmad Shouhani, member of the Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, said in an interview with ICANA on Friday.
Obama on Wednesday sent Congress his formal request to authorize military force against Islamic State, meeting swift resistance from Republicans as well as his fellow Democrats wary of another war in the Middle East, Reuters reported.
Republicans, who control Congress and say Obama's foreign policy is too passive, want stronger measures against the militants than outlined in the plan, which bars any large-scale invasion by US ground troops .Many Democrats also insist that the plan is too broad because it includes no blanket ban on ground troops.
"Considering the situation in the region, especially in Iraq and Syria, and the scale of the activities of Daesh (the Arabic acronym for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant), the presence of American military forces will certainly lead to a defeat heavier than the previous ones," Shouhani said, adding, "In my view, the US will continue using the coalition (it formed with some western countries and regional allies against IS) and aerial bombardments and will never give in to the pressure to go into a land battle with Daesh because in that case it will get stuck in a deep quagmire."
Elsewhere, the lawmaker said the only way to fight Daesh is to back the Iraqi government and volunteer forces in their campaign against IS, noting, "The Iraqi army has achieved great successes in the fight against the terrorists and continued support will certainly lead to the destruction of Daesh."
