Top General to Senate: Obama's Strategy in Libya 'Makes No Sense'

President Barack Obama's nominee to command U.S. forces in Africa bluntly told the Senate that the current strategy of not bombing ISIS targets in Libya "makes no sense" and that more ground troops are needed there to fight the Islamic State, which he acknowledged as an imminent threat to the U.S., CNN reports.

Gen. Thomas Waldhauser, speaking during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee to lead U.S. Africa Command, urged bolstered American military action in Libya to ensure that ISIS does not rebuild itself there while its forces are on the defensive in Iraq and Syria.

This is yet another sign that U.S. military leaders are openly questioning the Obama administration's strategy in Libya, warning that failing to press the offensive against ISIS could allow it to regroup, The Washington Times reports.

Waldhauser said that U.S. military efforts there are currently being hamstrung because even plans for limited strikes against the enemy require White House approval, which are not the rules of engagement for fighting ISIS in Iraq or Syria.

This requirement is failing to take advantage of the Libyan government's recent surprising success against ISIS in order to give the terrorists a crushing blow.

But the White House has used the Libyan government's success to claim that U.S. forces are not needed in an apparent attempt to avoid military escalation, even though Waldhauser says it is too early to declare victory for the fledgling Libyan forces, which still have much to prove.

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