Gen. Dempsey told a group of reporters recently that he would recommend the U.S. military move against Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant forces if they become a direct threat to the U.S. homeland, according to The Associated Press. As of yet, Dempsey still considers the group a regional threat and does not believe militants are planning to launch attacks against the U.S. or European nations, the news source reported. Dempsey has not recommended military action or airstrikes against the group in Syria yet.
Battling ISIL forces
American servicemembers have not engaged ISIL militants outside of Iraq, excluding a 24-man search and rescue operation executed earlier this summer, which was intended to save American hostages inside Syria, according to CBS News.
Instead, military operations against the extremist group have been restricted to particular measures in Iraq to protect American officials and Iraqi civilians who fled to Mount Sinjar. Both events predominantly included calculated U.S. airstrikes. Thus far, the AP reported that the U.S. has launched 96 airstrikes across Iraq targeting ISIL targets. Sixty-two of those airstrikes occurred around the Mosul Dam. ISIL forces captured Mosul – Iraq's second-largest city – in June and commandeered an expanse of land stretching from Syria to western and northern Iraq.
Working with allies
If U.S. military forces decide to move against ISIL, the Joint Chiefs chairman believes surrounding nations will join the effort against the extremist group, including Jordan, Turkey and Saudi Arabia, according to Fox News.
"I think ISIS has been so brutal, and has wrapped itself in a radical religious legitimacy that clearly threatens everybody I just mentioned, that I think they will be willing partners," Dempsey said, according to the news source.
If American territories are threatened, the U.S. military response may include a variety of measures. Airstrikes in Syria have not been authorized by the Obama administration, but this could change with Dempsey's recommendation. Moreover, the U.S. could provide more assistance and advice to Iraqi forces instead of putting a greater force of boots on the ground. Dempsey told reporters that U.S. military advisers have already assessed roughly 50 Iraqi military brigades and Kurdish units to judge whether the forces are trained well enough and sufficiently equipped to fight ISIL forces, the AP reported. As of yet, the U.S. has not received permission to or attempted to put military advisers alongside Iraqi troops in combat.