There will not be another ground war fought in Iraq by U.S. troops according to President Obama today.

He sought to reassure troops and the nation today in a speech at MacDill Airforce Base in Tampa, Florida. It was at MacDill, the headquarters of U.S. Central Command, that Obama said, “The American forces that have been deployed to Iraq do not and will not have a combat mission.”

Obama said that U.S> Troops will instead “support Iraqi forces on the ground as they fight for their own country against these terrorists.” The President continued, “As your commander in chief I will not commit you and the rest of our armed forces to fighting another ground war in Iraq.”

Obama let the troops know that American troops will need to lead the fight by the international coalition “destroy and degrade” the forces of ISIS.

Saudi Arabia is willing to allow a  base on its soil to train moderate Syrian rebels, the President said, “We will train and equip our partners. We will advise them and we will assist them. We will lead a broad coalition of countries who have a stake in this fight.”

It is expected that Australia and Canada will send military advisers to Iraq soon and Britain and France already has assisted the U.S. in flights over Iraq. Over 160 strikes have been initiated over Iraq against the militants since authorization by the President.

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