[xoxoxoBruce]

LA Times

Gen. Martin Dempsey, the military's top officer, repeatedly raised the prospect Tuesday of sending U.S. troops to fight alongside Iraqi soldiers against Islamic State militants, despite President Obama’s vows not to do so..

Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that he would recommend using U.S. ground troops if he deemed it necessary to rescue a downed pilot, to call in airstrikes to assist Iraqi and Kurdish forces, or to help assault a key military objective, such as the captured city of Mosul.

“If we reach the point where I believe our advisors should accompany Iraqi troops on attacks against specific ISIL targets, I’ll recommend that to the president,” Dempsey said at the top of his prepared testimony, using one of several abbreviations for Islamic State.