Obama doesn’t foresee US ground troops in Syria

Obama doesn’t foresee US ground troops in Syria

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica

President Barack Obama said Friday he doesn’t foresee any circumstance requiring the U.S. to send ground troops into Syria, even as Washington pursues more evidence about the regime’s purported use of chemical weapons.

“I do not foresee a scenario in which boots on the ground in Syria, American boots on the ground, would not only be good for America but also would be good for Syria,” Obama said at a news conference.

Obama also said he had consulted with Mideast leaders who want to see Syrian President Bashar Assad’s departure and agree with his assessment that the U.S. shouldn’t send ground forces.

California fire still rages out of control

CAMARILLO, Calif.

It seemed that each time wind-driven embers sparked new blazes or a wall of fire leaped a Southern California hillside and came charging toward hundreds of homes, an army of firefighters was right there to either douse or direct the flames away from humanity.

As a result, the fire that broke out Thursday quickly moved through the Camarillo Springs area without destroying a single home.

Firefighters were hoping for the same success Friday as the fire raged out of control miles away near the coast.

The good fortune of the Camarillo Springs area wasn’t the result of luck or clairvoyance by firefighters. It came after years of planning and knowing that sooner or later just such a conflagration was going to strike.

Experimental aircraft reaches hypersonic speeds

LOS ANGELES

An experimental, unmanned aircraft developed for the U.S. Air Force went hypersonic during a test off the Southern California coast, traveling at more than 3,000 mph, the Air Force said Friday.

The X-51A WaveRider flew for more than three minutes under power from its exotic scramjet engine and hit a speed of Mach 5.1, or more than five times the speed of sound.

Associated Press