President Barack Obama should send at least 10,000 American ground troops to Iraq to turn the tide of the war on the ISIS terror army, a former NATO commander said Thursday. Retired Admiral James Stavridis insisted that the reality on the ground 'is not good news, but we're going to need to put U.S. boots on the ground there.' 'Not 150,000 like at peak in Iraq, but probably 10,000,' he explained, 'to do the advising, the training, the mentoring. That’s how you make Iraqi security forces effective. That’s how you get the (Kurdish) Peshmerga in the game.' SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO . Retired Admiral James Stavridis said the U.S. will ultimately have to commit between 10,000 and 15,000 ground troops in order to stabilize Iraq . Hands full: Obama is juggling the ISIS war with an Ebola crisis back home, all while fretting that his Democratic Party will take a beating in the Nov. 4 midterm elections . US airstrikes continued Wednesday on positions held by the ISIS terror army in Kobane, Syria, but some military commanders worry that attacking from above won't get the job done by itself . Stavridis said Obama's goal should be to 'get ISIS in a three-front war,' pinning them between 'the Pehmerga in the north, Iraqi security in the south, (and) the bombing in the west.' In that scenario, he said, 'we can still turn this thing.' The admiral, who is hawking his biography 'The Accidental Admiral,' told an MSNBC audience that he's 'not surprised' Obama entered the Iraq crisis with a promise to keep U.S. ground troops out of harm's way. 'Let's face it: There's enormous Middle East fatigue in the country,' he said. 'The last thing in the world people want is troops back (in Iraq). I believe we have to confront this.' An NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released in late September showed that 72 per cent of Americans think Obama will have to change his mind. A smaller number, 45 per cent, said they would agree with that decision if Obama's top generals said it was necessary. It's likely the top Pentagon brass has already presented him with that sobering reality. Obama has pledged to 'degrade and ultimately destroy' ISIS, the self-proclaimed Islamic State of Syria and al-Sham, which has plowed through countless square miles of Syria and Iraq in a murderous quest to establish a country based on Islamic Sharia law. 'Our military are giving the president a wide range of options,' Stavridis said. 'And within that range they will say to him, "This is very high risk if we don’t put U.S. boots on the ground. If we want to turn this thing, Mr. President, we need to be putting 10,000, maybe 15,000 troops on the ground".’ 'I would guess those conversations are underway. I certainly hope so,' he said. ISIS is inching closer to a direct attack on Baghdad, taking a strategic military base this week in Anbar Province and threatening Fallujah – a large city where hundreds of American servicemen and women died during the decade when U.S. troops had a presence there. Meet the Peshmerga: Iraqi Kurds who want their own state in Iraq's northern region are fighting off ISIS near Turkey, but the Turks have their own beef with Kurdish separatists so they aren't helping . Stavridis, a former NATO commander, is hawking a book and weighing in on the ground conditions that will dictate America's next move . Stavridis said that overall, the Obama administration's effort to bring ISIS to heel through an international coalition effort isn't going well. 'I would say it's not, at this point,' he said. 'We have got to get Turkey into the game.' The Turks share massive borders with both Iraq and Syria, but their government has largely ignored ISIS – instead focusing on ancient enmity with Kurdish separatists who are holding ISIS back from crossing into Turkey. The weeks-long battle for Kobane, a Syrian city whose northern wall abuts Turkey's southernmost province, has attracted scant attention from Ankara. 'Turkey has a 500,000-man army, the second biggest in NATO,' Stavridis said Thursday. 'They've got to get into the game.'
Retired Admiral James Stavridis made the claim on MSNBC .
'We're going to need to put U.S. boots on the ground there ... to do the advising, the training, the mentoring,' he said .
Stavridis said the goal should be putting ISIS 'in a three-front war' against Peshmerga, Iraqi Security Forces and US airstrikes .
Recent poll shows 72 per cent of Americans think President Obama will send ground troops despite his pledge not to .
President Barack Obama should send at least 10,000 American ground troops to Iraq to turn the tide of the war on the ISIS terror army, a former NATO commander said Thursday. Retired Admiral James Stavridis insisted that the reality on the ground 'is not good news, but we're going to need to put U.S. boots on the ground there.' 'Not 150,000 like at peak in Iraq, but probably 10,000,' he explained, 'to do the advising, the training, the mentoring. That’s how you make Iraqi security forces effective. That’s how you get the (Kurdish) Peshmerga in the game.' SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO . Retired Admiral James Stavridis said the U.S. will ultimately have to commit between 10,000 and 15,000 ground troops in order to stabilize Iraq . Hands full: Obama is juggling the ISIS war with an Ebola crisis back home, all while fretting that his Democratic Party will take a beating in the Nov. 4 midterm elections . US airstrikes continued Wednesday on positions held by the ISIS terror army in Kobane, Syria, but some military commanders worry that attacking from above won't get the job done by itself . Stavridis said Obama's goal should be to 'get ISIS in a three-front war,' pinning them between 'the Pehmerga in the north, Iraqi security in the south, (and) the bombing in the west.' In that scenario, he said, 'we can still turn this thing.' The admiral, who is hawking his biography 'The Accidental Admiral,' told an MSNBC audience that he's 'not surprised' Obama entered the Iraq crisis with a promise to keep U.S. ground troops out of harm's way. 'Let's face it: There's enormous Middle East fatigue in the country,' he said. 'The last thing in the world people want is troops back (in Iraq). I believe we have to confront this.' An NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released in late September showed that 72 per cent of Americans think Obama will have to change his mind. A smaller number, 45 per cent, said they would agree with that decision if Obama's top generals said it was necessary. It's likely the top Pentagon brass has already presented him with that sobering reality. Obama has pledged to 'degrade and ultimately destroy' ISIS, the self-proclaimed Islamic State of Syria and al-Sham, which has plowed through countless square miles of Syria and Iraq in a murderous quest to establish a country based on Islamic Sharia law. 'Our military are giving the president a wide range of options,' Stavridis said. 'And within that range they will say to him, "This is very high risk if we don’t put U.S. boots on the ground. If we want to turn this thing, Mr. President, we need to be putting 10,000, maybe 15,000 troops on the ground".’ 'I would guess those conversations are underway. I certainly hope so,' he said. ISIS is inching closer to a direct attack on Baghdad, taking a strategic military base this week in Anbar Province and threatening Fallujah – a large city where hundreds of American servicemen and women died during the decade when U.S. troops had a presence there. Meet the Peshmerga: Iraqi Kurds who want their own state in Iraq's northern region are fighting off ISIS near Turkey, but the Turks have their own beef with Kurdish separatists so they aren't helping . Stavridis, a former NATO commander, is hawking a book and weighing in on the ground conditions that will dictate America's next move . Stavridis said that overall, the Obama administration's effort to bring ISIS to heel through an international coalition effort isn't going well. 'I would say it's not, at this point,' he said. 'We have got to get Turkey into the game.' The Turks share massive borders with both Iraq and Syria, but their government has largely ignored ISIS – instead focusing on ancient enmity with Kurdish separatists who are holding ISIS back from crossing into Turkey. The weeks-long battle for Kobane, a Syrian city whose northern wall abuts Turkey's southernmost province, has attracted scant attention from Ankara. 'Turkey has a 500,000-man army, the second biggest in NATO,' Stavridis said Thursday. 'They've got to get into the game.'
'is not good news, but we're going to need to put U.S. boots on the ground there.' 'Not 150,000 explained, 'to do the advising, the training, the VIDEO . Retired Admiral James Stavridis said the Stavridis said Obama's goal should be to 'get ISIS in a three-front war,' pinning them between per cent of Americans think Obama will have to presence there. Meet the Peshmerga: Iraqi Kurds