Globe Trot: Do we need ground troops in Iraq or not?

WAR ROOM: The top military adviser to the president says he won’t rule out ground troops in the U.S. effort to combat ISIS. Gen. Martin Dempsey told the Senate Armed Services committee on Tuesday it might be necessary to send American ground troops to Iraq if airstrikes aren’t sufficient.

The general’s statements were a departure from President Barack Obama’s promises that the United States won’t send ground forces to Iraq, but might prove a more realistic assessment of what it could take to battle the terror group.

Obama struggled for months to articulate a strategy against ISIS, and he was slow to call the conflict “a war.” Jonah Goldberg of National Review worries about the sudden game plan after months of presidential uncertainty:

“There are any number of things that could go wrong with his strategy. We could end up becoming a ‘Shiite air force,’ unwittingly doing the bidding of the Iranians. Obama wants to support the Free Syrian Army, but in August he called it a ‘fantasy’ that the rebel group could become an effective fighting force. What if August Obama was right and September Obama is wrong?”

CHRISTIAN AID: Meanwhile, Christians continue to suffer the wrath of ISIS in Iraq, and live in exile in the country’s northern regions after fleeing their homes.

The Assyrian International News Agency reports ISIS militants are using abandoned homes of Christians in the besieged city of Mosul as makeshift workrooms for building explosive devices.

In the Kurdish city of Erbil, churches are working to absorb refugees fleeing ISIS assaults. One example: Members of the Mar Elia Chaldean Catholic Church are delivering aid to hundreds of families living in tents near the church property. “We wanted to be sure that people who have left their homes and come here feel welcome. … Christians are the salt of any society,” the church’s priest said.

EBOLA:The president of Christian mission agency SIM is lauding President Obama’s efforts to combat the spread of Ebola in West Africa. Obama announced plans to send 3,000 U.S. military personnel to the region to help local workers build capacity for preventing and treating the disease that has killed at least 2,500 people in recent months.

The mission agency also said Dr. Rick Sacra—the second SIM worker and third U.S. missionary to contract Ebola in Africa—was making progress in his treatment. Sacra’s wife said the physician was grateful for the attention to his case, but asked for continued focus and help for those still suffering in Africa.

OTHERWORLDLY: The European Space Agency’s orbiter Rosetta offers some beautiful views of Earth, Mars, and the moon from a remarkable vantage point during its 10-year voyage through space.