Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ) released the following statement today on the Obama Administration’s announcement of an additional 450 U.S. troops to Iraq:

“Today’s announcement of an additional 450 U.S. troops to Iraq responds to a real need from our Sunni Arab partners in Anbar Province who are trying to resist ISIL. I know our troops will perform to the best of their abilities, and they have our full support.

“At the same time, I remain deeply concerned that this new deployment is disconnected from any coherent strategy to defeat ISIL. I am also disappointed the additional forces will not deploy closer to the front lines to call in airstrikes or advise smaller Iraqi units in battle. That is the kind of assistance the Iraqis need, but the President has refused to provide. At present, the tempo of U.S. operations against ISIL is low and without offensive capacity. Nearly 75 percent of U.S. strike missions return without firing a weapon because we do not have a unified air-ground campaign.

“Last August, President Obama said, ‘We don’t have a strategy yet.’ This week, President Obama said, ‘We don’t yet have a complete strategy.’ That much is obvious. After nearly a year of an ineffective U.S. air campaign, ISIL has expanded in Syria and now controls over 50 percent of the country’s territory as well as every border crossing between Iraq and Syria. In Iraq, ISIL is back on the offensive, recently capturing the key city of Ramadi and conducting suicide attacks inside Baghdad. ISIL’s black flags still fly over the country’s second-largest city of Mosul, and there is no foreseeable plan to liberate the city. Meanwhile, the Iraqi government has increasingly relied upon Iranian-backed Shiite militias that foment the very sectarianism that gave rise to ISIL in the first place.

“Nearly a year since U.S. airstrikes began, we still have no strategy, we are losing time, and ISIL has regained the operational initiative.”