Sen. Chuck Grassley says it is too soon to commit ground troops to Iraq

CEDAR RAPIDS - Sen. Chuck Grassley wants to start military training for Syrian moderates as soon as possible, but said it's too early to commit ground troops in Iraq.

The Iowa Republican said he supports the president's proposal, but doesn't want to see the training get held up by congressional feuding over a continuing resolution to fund the federal government. If the funding package gets held up it could threaten the training as well as another government shutdown, Grassley said in a conference call with reporters Wednesday.

'I would say we need to make sure government doesn't shut down,” he said, 'and I think the training ought to get underway” sooner rather than later.

However, Grassley said there is some question whether the president has authority under the War Powers Act to proceed.

He saod je will withhold judgment on committing ground troops to Iraq, as the Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has suggested until he sees what level of commitment other countries make to fight the Islamic State, what the training accomplishes and whether airstrikes succeed in degrading IS forces.

'At this point,” Grassley said, 'going beyond intelligence people and personnel to protect Americans, I don't think I'm ready to make a decision beyond that. And I don't think the (American) people are ready to make a decision beyond that.”

The decapitation of American and British journalists by the Islamic States has changed American thinking about the terrorists, he added.

'Americans look at IS and the threat there in the Middle East a lot more seriously than they did a month ago,” Grassley said.

Also Wednesday, Vice President Joe Biden, who was campaigning in Des Moines, said ground troops aren't needed in Iraq at this time.

Referring to Dempsey, Biden said that if the general 'concluded that was needed, he would request it from the president.”

'His conclusion is that it is not needed now,” the vice president said. 'We'll determine that based on how the effort goes.”