California Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff said on CBS’ “Face the Nation” that he does not believe the United States is winning the war against ISIS, and there are still many steps the Obama administration needed to take. (VIDEO: Obama DoD Secretary Blames Iraqis For Fall Of Ramadi: ‘No Will To Fight’)
HOST BOB SCHIEFFER: Years after we came through Vietnam experience, I remember thinking, you know, we kept asking during that period, ‘Are we winning?’ And when you have to ask the question, generally you’re not winning because victory is always obvious. Do you think we’re winning now?
SCHIFF: I wouldn’t say that we’re winning. I don’t think we’re losing either, but I think we’re seeing an ebb and flow, and largely a stalemate situation in the war against ISIS.
I get concerned when I hear the administration use metric of how many sorties, how many bombing runs we’re doing. I think the more important metrics are how are we doing stopping foreign fighters entering the country, how are we doing in drying up ISIS’ resources, how are we doing in working with Gulf allies on fighting the ideological fight within Islam that we’re not positioned to fight ourselves, and how are we doing in terms of military support.
And on that latter point that’s where I think Ramadi really comes into play. I think we still have a lot of work to keep the pressure on the Iraqi government to fully incorporate the Sunnis, to peel those Sunni tribes away from ISIS. Because until that happens, we’re not going to be successful in the military struggle.
WATCH: