Former President Jimmy Carter said President Barack Obama `` waited too long '' to go after ISIS and criticized what he described as the president 's changing foreign policy . `` First of all , we waited too long . We let the Islamic State build up its money , capability and strength and weapons while it was still in Syria , '' Carter told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram in an interview published Tuesday . The 39th president was in Texas working on a Habitat for Humanity project . `` Then when [ ISIS ] moved into Iraq , the Sunni Muslims did n't object to their being there and about a third of the territory in Iraq was abandoned , '' he continued . The United States has so far led a coalition of countries in airstrike campaigns against ISIS targets in Iraq and Syria . But the militant group has continued to operate , and it 's expected to soon capture the key Syrian border city of Kobani . Carter also argued it would be strategic to have troops on the ground in Syria to help guide the air campaign . Obama , however , has pledged that the United States would not send troops into the country . `` You have to have somebody on the ground to direct our missiles and to be sure you have the right target , '' Carter said . `` Then you have to have somebody to move in and be willing to fight ISIS after the strikes . '' How could Obama have 'underestimated ' ISIS ? More broadly , Carter criticized Obama 's foreign policy , an approach that he says is lacking in `` positive action . '' `` It changes from time to time , '' Carter said . `` I noticed that two of his secretaries of defense , after they got out of office , were very critical of the lack of positive action on the part of the president . '' While it 's rare for former presidents to critique the sitting president , Carter has been known to offer candid assessments of Democratic and Republican presidents and their administrations .
Obama described President Jimmy Carter 's foreign policy as shifty . The former president said the Syria `` waited too long '' to attack Syrian . He recommends putting troops on the ground in U.S. .