This might sound strange to regular NewsBusters readers, but what Chris Matthews said tonight makes sense. His critique of President Obama's ISIS strategy was simple . . . and devastating. Yes, we can bomb from the air. But since President Obama has ruled out American boots on the ground, we'll have to rely on foreignpartners on to hold territory. And there's no way we can rely on the dismantled likes of the Free Syrian Army or other non-existent forces.
And so, admitted Matthews, he's a "skeptic" about the potential for success of President Obama's plan.
Note: if you were cynical, you might imagine that Matthews is helping President Obama make the case for the inevitable escalation.
CHRIS MATTHEWS: Well, the president last night said this is not our fight alone, and that we will be working with a broad coalition of allies. But what exactly will that look like? Today we found out. Germany, Turkey, and Britain all said they were unlikely to take part in the air strikes. What about our partners on the ground? Is it realistic to think that the Free Syrian Army is strong enough to gain territory after we bomb land held by ISIS? And if not, how do we win a war with air power alone, and without credible allies on the ground or coalition partners willing to get their hands dirty, if you will? . . . One of two things has to happen for you to quote win. One they have to put their hands in the air and say, we give up. Hands in the air, surrender to the United States. Nobody thinks that's going to happen. The second possibility, is that somebody will come along after we bombed sn area, grab that area, take it over, take it from ISIS and whittle down the amount of area that ISIS actually controls. As Richard just said, there's nobody to do that. So I don't see how the bombing campaign beyond killing a few leaders if we're lucky, gets anywhere near destroying and degrading ISIS . . . So I remain a skeptic about how this works. How can the president use an air campaign if there's no one to exploit it on the ground, take land back and capture these people? They're going to be still be around, still shooting us, still probably beheading us.
