Besides not knowing specifically where the plant is, the
administration would have difficulty taking it out with
airstrikes because ISIS terrorists are "capable of digging
underground and protecting themselves," McCain said.
"It's not so easy to take it out from the air. Air power alone
does not win conflicts.
"You're going to have to have boots on the ground," he
continued. "Some of those boots, like 10,000 out of a
100,000-person military, would have to be American boots on the
ground.
"You're going to have to go in on the ground to take them out."
He told Blitzer that the remaining soldiers would have to come
from Arab countries, ranging from Turkey to Saudi Arabia — among
others.
"Right now, that's very difficult because there is a failure and
a vacuum of American leadership," McCain said. "If there was
American leadership, we could lead these other countries into
what is clearly their interest and that is to destroy ISIS at
their headquarters."