WASHINGTON — As the massivꦯe US-led air campaign plows ahead, the nation’s top military chief says it will take 15,000 ground troops to wipe out ISIS in Syrꦇia.
Gen. Martin Dempsey, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, made the statement at a Friday briefing as Britain, Belgium and Denmark joined the bombing campaign to wipe out the terror group🔯 in Iraq.
“The answer is yes. There has to be a ground componenಞt in the c💧ampaign,” Dempsey said, appearing alongside Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel.
“We nee😼d 12,000 to 15,000 to reclaim lost territory,” he said, referring꧅ to the huge swath ISIS carved out from Iraq and Syria.
ISIS is estimated to ha𝄹ve amassed more than 30,000 fighters, including man🌺y recruits from Western nations.
The US-led coalition, which also includes five Arab countries joining the air campaign, plans to train Syrian rebels to do the dirty work on the ground, while also relying on Kurdish peshmerga force♔s and Iraqi tribal fighters.
President🌠 Obama has repeatedly insisted US troop𓄧s won’t play a combat role in the campaign.
In Great Britain, Parliament gave an overwhel꧙ming vote, 534-43, to join the Iraq coalition Friday — just days after ISIS released a video showing the beheading of British hostage David Haines.
“This is abꦛout psychopathic te🌄rrorists that are trying to kill us, and we do have to realize that, whether we like it or not, they have already declared war on us,” said British Prime Minister David Cameron.
“There isn’t a ‘walk on by’ option. There isn’t an option of just hop🔯ing this will go away.”
The UK is dispatching six Tornado f๊ighter jets. Belgium is sending six F-16s,﷽ and Denmark is sending seven more.
In the face of the withering air attack, ISIS m🌌ilitants are changing tactics by ditching conspicuous convoys in favor of motorcycles.
The jihadists have also taken t𝓰o erecting their notorious black flag on the roofto♐ps of residential houses and buildings — many of them empty — to create confusion.