You shouldn’t deploy planes without intel and you shouldn’t deploy anything you aren’t prepared to use or lose. F-18s are fighter jets, not just surveillance.
Via Daily Mail:
President Barack Obama has the backing of congressional leaders to unilaterally decide what steps he might take to deal with the unfolding crisis in Iraq.
After a meeting with Obama, Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said the president ‘indicated he didn’t feel he had any need for authority from us for steps that he might take.’
Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic House Minority Leader, said in a statement after the meeting that Obama does not need ‘any further legislative authority’ for the options discussed so far.
The meeting came last night as it was revealed that U.S. pilots had already begun flying surveillance missions over Iraq in F-18 Super Hornet warplanes.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has asked President Obama for air strikes against the Sunni Islamist militants who have been carving a wide swath through his country.
Surprisingly, an administration official said it was the leaders who suggested Obama already had the power to take action in Iraq without a congressional rubber stamp.
