The Hill - Democrat Warns Against 'All-Out War' With ISIS

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By Rebecca Kheel

President Obama's decision to send 250 troops to Syria to help fight the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) inches the United States closer to an "all-out war," Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) said Monday.

"Nearly every day, we see the U.S. mission in Iraq and Syria creep closer and closer toward all-out war, while Congress refuses to muster the courage to even debate it," Lee said in a written statement.

Lee again called on Congress to debate an authorization for the military force in the fight against ISIS.

"In January, both Speaker [Paul] Ryan and Majority Leader [Mitch] McConnell called for a debate; four months later, neither have brought a debate to the Floor," she said. "It is past time for Congress to rein in this dangerous mission creep and get serious about our Constitutional responsibility to debate this war. The American people deserve to understand the costs and consequences of this rapidly escalating war."

She also said the military alone will not defeat ISIS.

"The national security experts are clear: there is no military solution to ISIL," she said, using an alternate acronym for ISIS. "While we must dismantle ISIL, we must enact a comprehensive strategy to help stabilize the region. Before another American is sent to the Middle East, I urge Speaker Ryan to hold this debate."

Lee, who was Congress's lone dissenter on a 2001 measure granting then-President George W. Bush authority to go to war in Afghanistan, last week slammed the Pentagon's announcement that another 200 troops would be sent to Iraq.

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