GOP hopefuls split on sending ground troops to Middle East
ATLANTA (AP) — Republican presidential candidates are split on whether the U.S. should send ground troops to the Middle East to combat Islamic State forces.
Yet several other Republicans want to try — or at least not to get mired in the details beyond casting President Barack Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as weak and feckless.
Businessman Donald Trump, who is leading most surveys of likely Republican primary voters, backed into a commitment of ground troops Sunday during a wide-ranging interview on NBC's "Meet the Press."
On CNN's State of the Union, Ohio Gov. John Kasich blasted the Islamic State group: All the religions of the world ought to stand up say, 'You blow up innocent men, women and children and you think you're going to paradise?
Bush blames Obama's reduction of U.S. troops in Iraq for the rise of Islamic State militants.
Outgoing Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno cautioned last week in his final Pentagon press conference that U.S. forces alone will not defeat Islamic State militants in the long-term.