Overnight Defense: Pentagon chief argues against ground force in ISIS fight

By Rebecca Kheel - 12/09/15 07:14 PM EST

THE TOPLINE: Defense Secretary Ash Carter returned to the Hill on Wednesday to defend the administration's response to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), saying he continues to recommend against a "significant" ground force to fight the jihadists.

"I recognize that in principle there are alternatives to the strategic approach we have adopted to drive ISIL from Syrian and Iraqi territory," he told the Senate Armed Services Committee, using an alternate acronym for ISIS. "While we certainly have the capability to furnish a U.S. component to such a ground force, we have not recommended this course of action for several reasons."

Sen. John McCain

John McCain Experts warn weapons gap is shrinking between US, Russia and China McCain delivers his own foreign policy speech Republicans who vow to never back Trump MORE (R-Ariz.), the committee chairman, pushed back on Carter throughout the hearing and reiterated his call for a few thousand ground troops in Iraq and Syria.

"What we do need in Iraq is several thousand additional U.S. troops," he said.

On Syria, he added, "we will need a multinational ground force--primarily made up of Sunni Arab and European forces but with a strong U.S. component--to do what no local force now can or will."

Carter listed three reasons he opposes a ground force: it would be a significant undertaking; it would prompt some local forces fighting ISIS to instead fight U.S. troops; and it would hamper local forces from securing and governing territory after ISIS is defeated.

PENTAGON WARNS AGAINST 'APOCALYPTIC WAR': Also at the Senate committee hearing, Pentagon leaders criticized proposals to fight the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) that they say would fuel the terrorist group's recruitment abilities.

"It's clear from ISIL's strategy that their objective is to cause us to engage in what they believe is an apocalyptic war with the west," said Gen. Paul Selva, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, using an alternate acronym for ISIS. "And anything that we do to feed that particular frame of thinking counters our national security, and we have to be very careful about how we prosecute a campaign that appears to be an indiscriminate attempt to attack ISIL and the population that surrounds it."

Selva was responding to Sen. Claire McCaskillClaire McCaskill Bill would target retaliation against military sexual assault victims Senate Dem takes on drugmaker: ‘It’s time to slaughter some hogs’ Week ahead: Drug pricing back in focus MORE's (D-Mo.) criticism during the hearing of presidential candidate Sen. Ted CruzTed Cruz George Will: GOP must stop Trump even if he wins nomination Former Calif. governor to endorse Cruz Cruz super-PAC punches at Trump over Mike Tyson endorsement MORE's (R-Texas) call to "carpet bomb" ISIS.

"We will carpet bomb them into oblivion," Cruz said last weekend in Iowa. "I don't know if sand can glow in the dark, but we're going to find out."

McCaskill slammed Cruz's comments, saying that carpet bombing Iraq or Syria would kill numerous innocent women and children, prompting some to side with ISIS.

"If we did an indiscriminate carpet bombing of a major area and killed thousands of women and children, would you assume that would have some impact on their ability to recruit misguided barbarians like this couple that took out more than a dozen innocent people last week?" she said, referring to the couple suspected of carrying out last week's shooting in San Bernardino, Calif. "I would have to assume it would put their recruiting on steroids."

HOUSE PANEL VOTES TO DIRECTLY ARM KURDS: The United States would be allowed to directly arm and train the Kurdish peshmerga in the fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) under a bill passed Wednesday by unanimous voice vote in the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

"Kurdish forces in northern Iraq have been some of our closest partners in the fight against the ISIS," said Chairman Ed Royce (R-Calif.) at a hearing to mark up the bill.

Right now, the law requires all U.S. military assistance for the Kurds to flow through Baghdad, which is controlled by Shiites.

That requirement, Royce said, has led to delays in providing Kurdish forces the weapons and training they need to fight ISIS.

The measure would authorize the president to provide arms to the Kurds, but does not require it. Authorized weapons would include anti-tank missiles, armored vehicles and long-range artillery.

The bill is controversial since it authorizes the U.S. to sidestep the government in Baghdad, which opposes direct arming of the Kurds since it could undermine its control and authority.

SENATE DEMS OFFER ISIS PLAN: Senate Democrats unveiled a broad proposal Wednesday to combat the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in the wake of a string of recent terrorist attacks.

The legislation combines new sanctions against the terrorist group, with additional support for local groups fighting ISIS and extra help for European countries to screen immigrants that are coming from war-torn regions.

Democrats are also pushing for an ISIS "czar," suggesting that the administration needs one person to oversee the administration's strategy to defeat the terrorist group.

The White House had previously announced that the president had named Rob Malley as a special adviser on ISIS. But a Democratic aide said that senators had been working on the legislation before Obama made the announcement and that lawmakers wanted it included in the bill.

Republican lawmakers are already taking aim at the push for an "ISIS czar." Sen. John CornynJohn Cornyn First US Zika death reported in Puerto Rico Senate confirms Obama's long-stalled ambassador to Mexico Overnight Healthcare: Medicare fight looms on Capitol Hill MORE (R-Texas) suggested that the administration already has a person responsible for overseeing strategy--the president.

The legislation also ties in the push to tighten the Visa Waiver Program, supports creating a new office within the Department of Homeland Security focused on "homegrown extremism" and blocks the sale of guns to suspected terrorists.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

-- Grassley: Pentagon response over Afghan waste 'inadequate'

-- GOP wants to hear Obama's plan on Iran missile test

-- 500,000-signature petition calls for probe of Afghan hospital bombing

-- FBI: San Bernardino shooters radicalized before their marriage

-- Putin weighs use of nukes against ISIS

Please send tips and comments to Kristina Wong, kwong@thehill.com, and Rebecca Kheel, rkheel@thehill.com