WASHINGTON, September 18 (RIA Novosti), Leandra Bernstein – The administration of US President Barack Obama should openly request the Congress to issue a declaration of war against the Islamic State, Republican Steve Chabot of Ohio said on Thursday.
"I think the administration should be honest with the American people," Chabot told RIA Novosti following a Foreign Affairs Committee hearing with Secretary of State John Kerry.
"I would favor the administration coming to Congress and asking us to declare war on these terrorists, I would certainly support that," Chabot said.
The Obama administration is currently not seeking additional congressional authorization for military operations in the Middle East.
On Wednesday, members of the US House of Representatives authorized $500 million to go towards the training and equipping of Syrian rebels, to fight a multiple front war against the Islamic State.
Kerry stated in his testimony on Thursday that further authorization for military use of force is not necessary, but would be welcome.
"Of course it would be better to have an update [of the 2001 authorization for use of military force]. It would be better to have Congress ratify and join in . . . but it is not necessary for the president to begin the process he is beginning," Kerry told the Foreign Affairs Committee.
Congressman Chabot also raised questions about the administration's candor in telling the American people that there will be no US "boots on the ground" in the fight against IS.
"There are clearly boots on the ground . . . 1,600 that are either there now or soon will be, and I think it will be a lot more than that," he told RIA Novosti.
The IS, formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) or Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), has been fighting the Syrian government since 2012. In June 2014, it launched an offensive in Iraq and seized vast areas in both countries, proclaiming an Islamic caliphate on the territories under its control.
On September 10, US President Barack Obama unveiled his strategy for defeating the Islamic State. The plan includes forming an international anti-IS coalition and authorizing US airstrikes against IS positions in Syria, while simultaneously continuing airstrikes in Iraq, which were launched by the country back in August.
