When asked by “Meet The Press” host Chuck Todd if any nation has committed to putting boots on the ground in Syria to combat ISIS, White House Chief Of Staff Denis McDonough said “we’re not looking at that now.”
Todd shot back, “Wait a minute, why not?”
“We’re trying to put together the specifics of what we expect from each of the members” said the White House flack, referring to the “broad coalition” President Obama referenced in his speech Wednesday night.
McDonough tried to walk back his initial quote though.
‘”If you know you need combat troops on the ground, you don’t have any countries that have pledged to do that yet…,” the NBC host began asking.
“I didn’t say that, Chuck. I said that you would hear from Secretary Kerry that countries are saying they’re ready to do that. That they’re ready to fly with us, but we’re going to get to that in due time,” McDonough said.
McDonough also pledged to not put combat troops into to Syria, simply saying “we will take the fight to our enemies without putting ground troops into the effort.”
Secretary of State John Kerry told Bob Schieffer on “Face The Nation” that unidentified nations have indeed offered ground troops to combat ISIS in Syria.
“There are some [nations] who have offered to do so, but we are not looking for that at this moment anyway,” Kerry said.
McDonough was making the rounds on the Sunday Shows, appearing also on ‘Fox News Sunday’, CNN’s “State of the Union”, and ABC’s “This Week.”