In a letter to Defense Secretary Ashton Carter on Tuesday, McCain invoked his own involvement in the Vietnam War as a military pilot to rebuke the current strategy in the Middle East.

“As a young military officer, I bore witness to the failed policy of gradual escalation that ultimately led to our nation’s defeat in the Vietnam War,” the Arizona Republican wrote.

“Now as chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, I fear this administration’s grudging incrementalism in the war against ISIL risks another slow, grinding failure for our nation,” he added.

McCain, a frequent critic of the White House, said he feared military commanders were not making recommendations to the civilian leadership based on facts on the ground.

“My conversations with military commanders both on the ground and in the Pentagon have led me to the disturbing, yet unavoidable conclusion that they have been reduced from considering what it will take to win to what they will be allowed to do by this administration,” he wrote.

The Pentagon has recently announced plans for deploying additional US combat troops in Iraq to accelerate military operations against Daesh (ISIS / ISIL) terrorists.

The Pentagon has acknowledged that the US force level in the country has already exceeded the authorized level of 3,870 approved by President Barack Obama.

Officials have quietly said that the actual number is closer to 5,000 when accounting for troops considered to be on “temporary” deployment.

Meanwhile, military officials said last week that the US was considering a new plan to “greatly increase” the number of Special Forces deployed in Syria. The military also said that it had resumed training new groups of militants to fight ISIS in Syria.

In his letter, McCain demanded answers to a slew of questions, including military strategies in ISIS strongholds of Mosul in Iraq, and Raqqa in Syria, as well as the exact number of military and civilian personnel deployed in those countries, Press TV reported.

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