Prelude to a Ground War? House OK's Arming Rebels

President Barack Obama's request for congressional backing to train and arm rebels battling the Islamic State in Syria was approved easily by the Republican-controlled House and was expected to pass in the Senate Thursday.

"This vote, the yeas are 273; the nays are 156. The amendment is adopted," Rep. Randy Hultgren, R-Ill., said.

Meanwhile, before a packed gym at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, the president continued to insist the move is not a prelude to American ground troops.

"I will not commit you and the rest of our Armed Forces to fighting another ground war in Iraq. We will not get dragged into another ground war in Iraq," he vowed.

But Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, seemed to open the door to more U.S. involvement in Iraq if airstrikes are not enough

"His stated policy is that we will not have U.S. forces in ground combat, but he has told me as well to come back to him on a case-by-case basis," he said.

Speaking before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Secretary of State John Kerry repeated the president's assertion that American ground forces will not go into combat against the Islamic State. 

His words were met with skepticism.

"What Arab Sunni country is going to be putting boots on the ground in Syria against this now claimed army by your deputy?" Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., asked the secretary.

"At this moment, no country has been asked to put boots on the ground or no country is talking of it," Kerry replied. "And we don't think it's a good idea right now."

Obama's strategy is a campaign of airstrikes against Islamic State targets in Iraq to back Iraqi and Kurdish units on the ground.

The White House claims more than 40 countries have offered assistance in a global coalition to fight Islamic militants.