The White House says President Obama is ruling out any large-scale deployment of US combat troops in Iraq and Syria, even though ISIS is making military gains in both countries.
The United Nations says concerns are growing for ancient ruins in Palmyra that are designated a World Heritage Site.
Our Washington Correspondent Simon Marks reports.
IN: "First Ramadi….."
OUT: SOC
DUR: 2:59
AIR: http://www.fsnradionews.com/feeds/0521isispkg-sm-air.mp3
ARN: http://www.fsnradionews.com/feeds/0521isispkg-sm-arn.mp3
FM4: http://www.fsnradionews.com/feeds/0521isispkg-sm-fm4.mp3
ICRT: http://www.fsnradionews.com/feeds/0521isispkg-sm-icrt.mp3
NIGERIA: http://www.fsnradionews.com/feeds/0521isispkg-sm-von.mp3
RNZ: http://www.fsnradionews.com/feeds/0521isispkg-sm-rnz.mp3
VATICAN: http://www.fsnradionews.com/feeds/0521isispkg-sm-vat.mp3
ZIZ: http://www.fsnradionews.com/feeds/0521isispkg-sm-ziz.mp3
GENERIC: http://www.fsnradionews.com/feeds/0521isispkg-sm-generic.mp3
First Ramadi…then Palmyra….ISIS is on the march, but that is not sparking any change of heart at the White House.
Spokesman Josh Earnest, questioned by reporters who at times bordered on the incredulous, insisted that the current US strategy cannot be deemed a failure…..and he rejected Republican suggestions that it's time to send US combat troops to Iraq and Syria.
AXX
But critics say that's a mistake…at a time when ISIS now controls half of Syria….and is tightening its grip on territory in Iraq.
And Republican Senator John McCain rounded on the White House for failing to acknowledge the scale of the ISIS victory over Iraq's army in Ramadi.
AXX
And with a growing number of Republican Presidential candidates suggesting that it's time for US combat troops to be put back on the ground in the region, the Republican leader in the House of Representatives, John Boehner, is out in front, leading the charge for change.
AXX
The fate of Palmyra is deeply concerning not just to the White House but also to the United Nations.
A World Heritage Site, in the days leading up to the Islamic State onslaught, museum workers are believer to have carted crates of precious statues and relics off to safety.
But the Director General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, says there is an enormous risk of damage being done by the extremists to one of the most important cultural sites in the world.
AXX
The Obama administration is caught between a rock and a hard place on both sides of the border.
In Iraq, it's now relying on Shia militias, backed by Iran to push Islamic State out of Ramadi.
But it won't co-ordinate US airistrikes with the government in Iran….and on the Syrian side of the border it won't work with the government of President Bashar al Assad either.
The White House insists it's now up to the Iraqi Army and the moderate Syrian opposition to try and save their countries from Islamic State….even as the evidence builds that neither of them has the capabilities for the task.
SOC