Coats: No ground forces against ISIS without clear strategy, troop commitment from Muslim nations

Indiana Senator Dan Coats says it'll take more than airstrikes to crush the Muslim militant group ISIS. But he's not endorsing a return of American ground troops to Iraq -- at least not yet.

House Speaker John Boehner raised the possibility of ground troops on Sunday, and Coats is careful not to slam the door completely. The Republican senator says the White House has to present Congress with a strategy for defeating ISIS that goes beyond bombing before he'd consider that step. He's deferring to military leaders in shaping what that strategy should be, but says top generals and military historians have been unanimous in saying airstrikes can only slow ISIS's advance, not produce ultimate victory.

And while Coats applauds cooperation from Jordan and Saudi Arabia on the air campaign, he says Muslim countries need to do more than that. He says moderate Muslim states, including Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, should recognize they could be next in ISIS's crosshairs, and says if there's a ground offensive, those countries must supply the majority of the troops before the U.S. commits ground forces. He says the U.S. can't take the lead on the battlefield without sparking resentment at foreign intervention.

The Republican senator is renewing a blast at President Obama's statement that intelligence agencies were blindsided by ISIS. Coats serves on the Senate Intelligence Committee, and says the group's aims and growing strength have been documented for months.

The head of the Defense Intelligence Agency testified before the House and Senate intelligence panels in February that ISIS was likely to try to grab territory in Iraq and Syria. And Coats argues the U.S. withdrawal from Iraq after failing to negotiate an agreement to extend their presence made it obvious that terrorist and jihadist groups would seek to fill the void.

"All he had to do is watch the evening news," Coats says. "Or watch YouTube."