Rep. Mac Thornberry (R., Texas), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said on Thursday that the United States should consider putting boots on the ground in Syria, Stars and Stripes reports.
Thornberry said the Obama administration’s strategy has been ineffective against the Islamic State.
"My point is we should not tie our hands and pretend there is a border there when there is not," Thornberry told reporters during a roundtable discussion. "You have to look at where in Syria [U.S. forces would operate] and the risk they would be under and could they be protected."
About 2,300 troops are deployed to Iraq to train and assist the country’s military, with some dedicated to protecting those trainers. But so far the military has limited Syria operations to the air.
The chairman said he understands the conflict in Syria is a "horrible mess" and that he voted in support of the Obama administration’s plan to train and equip a proxy ground army of moderate Syrian rebels against the Islamic State fighters, who now control large swaths of that country and Iraq. Congress granted the Pentagon authority last month to carry out the program, which is expected to begin training fighters this spring and will likely occur outside the war-torn country.
Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz.), who is the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, has also called for an increased war effort in Syria.