MSNBC Military Analyst: US Support to Jordan ‘Probably Inadequate’

MSNBC Military Analyst Gen. Barry McCaffrey (Ret.) said that the US’ support of Jordan was “probably inadequate” on Thursday’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports.”

“I do think we’ve made gestures on too many of these fronts. We clearly need to up the ante in terms of direct support to Kurdish military forces, to the Jordanians, to the Iraqis. The Jordanians are getting a billion dollars a year, but that’s probably inadequate given their front line status and their willingness to take part in these operations…we’re in this quandary where we’ve become a de-facto ally of the Iranians and Assad in trying to focus on this murderous group of 30,000 ISIS fighters. We have got to sort out our strategic objectives, then I think the White House has to not micromanage the military force that they’re willing to use” he stated.

McCaffrey continued, “I think the UAE is right [to suspend airstrikes]. Look, at the end of the day, if you’re going to use air power, US Naval and Air Force air power, you need to let them design the package that goes on the ground. That probably means a robust search and air rescue capability, it may mean a Ranger battalion, so we’ve got boots on ground if we need to pick up one of our pilots…if you’re going to do it, let’s do something substantial that’s likely to achieve a result.”

He concluded, “I think it would be huge mistake to put ground combat forces into action against a terrorist group in desert areas, it doesn’t make any sense at all. What it really requires is us to have a long-term, extending focus on supporting our friends in the region, the Saudis, the Egyptians, the Jordanians, the Iraqis, for whatever that’s worth, directly to the Kurds.”

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