A senior Obama administration official has conceded that American ground troops may be needed in the battle to defeat Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria.
General Martin Dempsey, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a Senate Committee that he may recommend a wider role for US troops if the current strategy to defeat Islamic State fails.
President Obama visits US Central Command in Florida today, as our Washington Correspondent Simon Marks reports.
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The news that American ground troops may, in fact, be needed in the battle against Islamic State came during General Martin Dempsey's testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee.
In prepared remarks - as opposed to an ad libbed question and answer session - he clearly indicated that he may have no alternative but to question the President's insistence that American boots won't be needed on Iraqi or Syrian soil.
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As if to underscore the importance of what he said …. his own spokesman, seated behind him, could be seen to whisper "that's huge, by the way" to a colleague.
It is indeed….and it questions whether the President can make good on his pledge to end wars rather than start them.
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Republicans, like Senator Lindsey Graham, have long insisted that the US can't rely on the Iraqi army and the moderate Syrian opposition to do Washington's dirty work on the ground, after US air strikes have pummeled Islamic State.
He spoke on America's Fox News.
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The White House and State Department continue to insist that the President has made it clear: US troops won't be drawn back into ground combat.
But if the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff now doubts the reliability of that judgement…it suggests tough days ahead for the President, and the troops he commands.