CVA Supports President Obama; Calls For Decisive Action To Destroy ISIS
Arlington, Va. — President Barack Obama outlined his administration’s plan to respond to the threat of ISIS on Wednesday evening, laying out four primary strategies in his address to the nation. The plan consists of conducting a systemic campaign of airstrikes, increasing ground support, working with partners to prevent further attacks, and continuing humanitarian assistance to civilians displaced by ISIS.
Pete Hegseth, CEO of Concerned Veterans for America, issued the following statement via the organization’s recently launched “Strength and Security Project“:
“We support the Commander in Chief in his efforts to degrade and destroy ISIS, and appreciate the forceful rhetoric and clarity of purpose that were evident in his remarks to the American public on Wednesday evening. CVA agrees with the serious threat that ISIS represents to our national and homeland security, and believes that we should move aggressively to confront and defeat it both in Iraq as well as Syria. Now, with the speech behind us, we urge the President to take bold and decisive action as a wartime Commander in Chief to do whatever is necessary to provide for our military and enable them to finish the job.
“The president’s plan to build a coalition of regional partners is wise, and we hope he is successful, and personally invested, in convincing countries that share a vested interest in seeing ISIS destroyed to join in the fight. That said, our partners cannot be permitted to stand with us in word alone—they must commit substantial ground forces, resources and/or funding to the effort.
“We are concerned, however, that deploying a mere 475 additional troops will not be near enough to accomplish the stated mission. As veterans, we know all too well that half measures in wartime risk lives unnecessarily. Additionally, we continue to be troubled by the president’s insistence that there will no ‘combat boots on the ground.’ The president himself has deployed more than 1,600 troops to Iraq to date, and while they may not be traditional infantry, they will no doubt, sooner or later, be engaging the enemy. Whether or not this administration is comfortable saying America is once again at war, make no mistake, ISIS is at war with America. So rather than playing semantic shell games with us, the president should be leveling with the American people, girding us for the hard days ahead that war inevitably brings.
“Those concerns aside, the president stated a clear-eyed objective in the task ahead – the degradation and destruction of ISIS – and deserves the support of all Americans as we prepare – once again – for war. While we have been among his fiercest critics, we at CVA want President Obama – and the country – to succeed and hope that he will take the steps necessary to eliminate the threat ISIS poses.”
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To schedule a TV interview with Pete Hegseth, CEO of CVA, or other CVA experts, please email booking@guestbooker.com.
For more information on the Strength and Security Project, contact Caroline Phelps at 571.289.6215 or e-mail cphelps@cv4a.org.