Page 10A WORLD East Oregonian Saturday, October 31, 2015 U.S. ramps up efforts against Islamic State in Syria Associated Press WASHINGTON — The United States escalated its ¿ght against the IslaPic State in Syria on Friday, Sledging the ¿rst oSen deSloyPent oI Pilitary boots on the ground, even as U.S., Russian and other diSloPats Sressed a neZ Seace eIIort that APerica hoSes Zill hasten the deSar- ture oI %ashar Assad. Up to 50 special oper- ations troops Zill be sent to assist Kurdish and Arab Iorces in northern Syria, APerican oI¿cials said. The Pove ParNs a signi¿- cant departure Ior 3resident %aracN ObaPa, Zho Ior years has resisted putting ground Iorces in Syria even as he has gradually intensi¿ed the U.S. Pilitary response to Zhat counterter- rorisP oI¿cials Zorry is a groZing IslaPic State threat in Syria and Iraq. The troop announcePent caPe as diploPats in 9ienna representing 17 countries and the European Union agreed to launch a broad neZ peace attePpt to grad- ually end Syria’s long civil Zar — a declaration that avoided any deterPination on Zhen 3resident Assad Pight leave. It is not clear hoZ Pany rebel groups Zould agree to a plan that doesn’t result in Assad’s iPPediate departure. Any cease-¿re agreePent that Pay coPe as a result oI the peace eIIort Zould not include the IslaPic State, Zhich controls large parts oI northern Syria and has its capital there. %ut the participation by Russia and Iran in the attePpt could ParN a neZ and proPising phase in the Brendan Smialowski/Pool Photo via AP U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, center, poses for a photo with local police before departing Vienna Inter- national Airport Friday in Vienna, Austria. diploPacy since those coun- tries have staunchly bacNed Assad. The White House has long said that Assad’s ouster is essential to its ultiPate goal oI deIeating the IslaPic State because the Syrian president’s brutal tactics against Sunni rebels have draZn Sunni radicals IroP all over the Zorld into the Pilitant group’s ranNs. The Syrian civil Zar has Nilled Pore than 250,000 people and uprooted Pore than 11 Pillion, sparNing a reIugee crisis throughout Europe. 'espite Nilling as Pany as 12,000 Pilitants, the U.S. boPbing caPpaign has not signi¿cantly ZeaNened the IslaPic State’s capacity to hold territory, and the group’s ranNs have been replenished by Ioreign ¿ghters and others. Military experts say ground troops are essential Ior the ¿ght. A U.S. prograP to train Syrians Zas aban- doned as a Iailure, and the neZ deployPent essentially Zould replace that prograP. SpeaNing to reporters Àying Zith hiP on an over- seas trip, 'eIense Secretary Ash &arter said this Zould probably not be the last signi¿cant adMustPent to the anti-IS Pilitary caPpaign in Syria and Iraq. Friday’s developPents caPe as Pissiles slaPPed into a croZded suburb oI the Syrian capital. The attacN Nilled at least 0 people, activists said. The Syrian Observatory Ior HuPan Rights and the Local Coor- dination CoPPittees group said governPent Iorces ¿red Pore than 11 Pissiles at a ParNet in the suburb oI 'ouPa. In Washington, oI¿cials said the neZ U.S. Iorces Zill ZorN IroP headquarters locations and Zon’t Pove to the Iront lines or be used to call in airstriNes. HoZever, the U.S. has conducted special operations raids into Syria beIore noZ and Zill continue to do Pore unilateral raids. It helped Iraqi Iorces rescue hostages last ZeeN, and Master Sgt. -oshua Wheeler Zas Nilled, the ¿rst U.S. coPbat death in that country since 2011. OBAMA: EdPiston in general preIers local control rather than Iederal oversight Continued from 1A agencies have people dedi- cate tiPe to grant Zriting, he said, the process is tiPe consuPing and can be coun- terproductive Ior sPaller agencies. He said the process should be siPpli¿ed so sPaller agencies can actually acquire those resources. ObaPa also said invest- Pents in early childhood education pay oII through reduced criPe. EdPiston said addressing education and Pental health needs Zould be extrePely helpIul Ior police, Zho Pust respond to situations that Pay have been avoidable. On the topic oI gun saIety reIorPs, EdPiston said the president strucN a chord Zith Pany oI¿cers in attendance. ³This Zas not a rooP Iull oI people that Zere Must shaNing their head and agreeing Zith everything the president said. Having said that, Zhen he talNs about sPart Zays to try to liPit the Zrong people IroP having access to Zeapons, there Zas overZhelPing applause in the rooP,´ he said. In particular, EdPiston said Post in attendance seePed to support ObaPa’s suggestion that Pilitary-style assault Zeapons should not be sold to civilians. ³It’s Must a siPple propo- sition — cops should not be out-arPed by the criPinals they’re pursuing,´ ObaPa said. EdPiston, hoZever, said he believes the issue is Pore coPplex. He said he believes coPprehensive reIorPs are necessary to reduce gun violence, but Iocusing solely on assault Zeapons Zithout addressing IaPily, education and Pental health issues Pisses the broader point. He said he appreciated that the president brought up soPe oI these other issues but that he did not believe an assault Zeapon ban alone Zould solve the probleP. “Trying to target one issue is alPost liNe putting the entire issue into individual silos, and I thinN that’s Zhere the Iederal governPent itselI has becoPe ineIIective because everybody’s got their oZn little slice oI the pie,´ he said. “I thinN it leads to additional ineI¿ciencies iI you’re only Iocused on one issue.´ ObaPa said the IAC3 supported a ban on the sale oI assault Zeapons to civilians, as Zell as his plan to require national criPinal bacNground checNs Ior the purchase oI ¿rearPs. EdPiston said, in general, They’ve served our country with courage and honor. They’ve left behind loved ones to risk their lives in protecting their country. They’ve defended our freedoms and ideals. They make us proud to be Americans. Photo courtesy Jason Edmiston President Barack Obama greets people after speaking at the 122nd annual International Association of Chiefs of Police Conference Oct. 27 at McCormick Place in Chicago. “It’s just a simple proposition — cops should not be out-armed by the criminals they’re pursuing,” — President Barack Obama he preIers local control rather than Iederal oversight because the situations oI¿cers Iace diIIer betZeen HerPiston and 3endleton — let alone an urban Petropolis such as Chicago. He said, hoZever, at another session at the conIerence, a young police chieI Zas speaNing about the need Ior national use oI Iorce standards and EdPiston agreed. EdPiston adPitted, iI national standards seeP appropriate regarding use oI Iorce, they Pight be Ior bacN- ground checNs as Zell — iI they Zere done correctly. The diI¿culty, he said, is that people lacN trust in the governPent and question the Potives oI politicians. ObaPa Pentioned the Iact that people thinN he plans “to taNe everybody’s guns aZay.´ “Nobody is doing that,´ ObaPa said. “We’re talNing about coPPon-sense Peasures to PaNe sure criP- inals don’t get theP to PaNe sure bacNground checNs ZorN to PaNe sure that Ze’re protecting ourselves.´ EdPiston said iI people on both sides oI the issue coPe together, he believes steps can be taNen to iPprove gun saIety. “I do thinN that there needs to be soPe coPprehensive reIorP, or at least discussion asNing the question Why are these events taNing place"´ he said. “Is the Zeapon that is involved a Iactor"