https://youtube.com/watch?v=kTKSKI_0GQs
White House chief of staff Denis McDonough affirmed that the Obama administration’s current position is that we are in fact at war with the Islamic State, notwithstanding Secretary of State John Kerry’s rejection of the word last week to describe U.S. military action against the jihadist group.
“The administration seems to be a bit confused about what to call this action,” Martha Raddatz said to McDonough, before playing a clip of Kerry’s comments, followed by clips of White House press secretary Josh Earnest and Pentagon spokesman John Kirby insisting that we actually are at war.
“Sounds like some talking points there,” she commented.
“This isn’t talking points, it’s very serious business,” he returned, a point he made as well on Fox News Sunday.
“We believe that just as we have been at war with al-Qaeda since the day we got here, we are at war with ISIL,” McDonough said, explaining that the U.S. would be supporting “committed partners” on the ground with air power. He described those partners in Iraq as a “unified, capable, multi-ethnic Iraqi force.”
Asked if there was a limit to the number of troops the U.S. would commit to the effort, McDonough demurred, saying that he was “not in a position to tell you right now one way or the other.”