Cronin: America Should Not Put Boots on the Ground

If there are to be boots on the ground in Iraq, they should not be in the form of American troops, retired U.S. Marine Corps. Major Gen. John Cronin, author of the new book "An Inconvenient War," told Newsmax TV's  "America's Forum" host J.D. Hayworth Friday.

"We’ve got the lessons of Iraq where we spent $1 trillion and lost 5,000 and 50,000 wounded and we created a bigger mess than we started with," Cronin said. "[For] boots on the ground, the Kurds can be there, the Turks can be there which they don’t seem to be willing to do. The Iraqis can be there which has been kind of spotty. If you want boots on the ground those are the boots you want."

Story continues below video.

Note: Watch Newsmax TV now on DIRECTV Ch. 349 and DISH Ch. 223
Get Newsmax TV on your cable system – Click Here Now

But as far as the United States is concerned, it "can’t afford another bloodletting like we had over in Iraq the first time."

Further, he said, that going into the Middle East, with the goal of fighting against the Islamic State (ISIS) in Iraq and Syria is happening without a full plan.

"We can do things militarily, but what do we do if we win?" he said. "We have no plan, no overall structure in this country that will nation build, will provide the infrastructure for these countries," he said.

Cronin said he's also not concerned about the rise of a modern caliphate, as terrorist groups such as the Islamic State are more effective when they have no structure.

"When they have to govern and put something in place which accommodates people and services they just don’t have the ability to do it," he said. "They’re much easier to defeat in a state type system [and not] amorphous blobs like they are now, which are a bit difficult to defeat."

However, Cronin said his thought is that places like Turkey and Iran would be affected by the formation of a caliphate.

Meanwhile, Cronin said that he hopes that people who read his book will take away that war is nothing that should not be entered into halfheartedly.

"You have to commit the entire nation," said Cronin. "You have to put assets there and you have to get in and you’ve got to have a strategy to get out."

Related Stories:

• CNN Poll: Americans Support Airstrikes on ISIS, Not Boots on the Ground
• Rep. Salmon: 'There Are Already Boots on the Ground' in Iraq