Obama sending troops, boots on the ground, to Syria

[morningfog]

U.S. to Deploy Special Operations Forces in Syria: Official

The White House will announce Friday that a small number of U.S. special operations forces will be sent into Syria, according to a senior U.S. official.

The senior U.S. official said that the forces will be stationed in northern Syria and work alongside groups with a proven track record of fighting ISIS. The move will be described as a "shift" but not a "change" in U.S. strategy against ISIS, the official added.

The special operations forces could work with Kurdish and allied actors who have come together under the umbrella of the "Syrian Democratic Forces," according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the announcement was not yet public.

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/u-s-deploy-special-operations-forces-syria-official-n454506

[rug]

1. Legacy.

[TwilightGardener]

2. Gen. Austin let the cat out of the bag that some were already there, back in August.

The WH denied it. Now they're saying, yep, ground troops. This may be just because they're afraid of military deaths that can't be hidden or explained--kind of like they had to admit we had ground troops fighting in Iraq when one of them died, but tried to lie and say MSGT Wheeler wasn't supposed to be leading the raid he was killed in. Or they're trying to poke Russia in the eye. Who knows. Either way, the Obama administration is handling this very badly, I am disappointed.

[TwilightGardener]

3. One more thing: this could be the ground work for a no-fly zone--which is also a stupid idea.

[bemildred]

9. I think we are afraid to bomb without our own spotters after Kunduz.

So we need these guys to conduct our attack on Raqqa. The locals will lie to us to get us to bomb their enemies.

[TwilightGardener]

12. I don't think that's it at all. We knew that the hospital was a hospital.

We had special forces in that part of Afghanistan to confirm targets. Remember, the first (wrong) story out of the Pentagon when Kunduz happened was, "We had US soldiers in harm's way".

[bemildred]

14. The "we" you are talking about and the "we" I am talking about are not the same.

The "we" you are talking about were involved in combat on the ground at the time, and losing. The "we" I am talking about are politicians worried about being savaged again in the press for more atrocities of the same sort. Hence the SpecOps, who can be relied on to follow orders, not do "stupid stuff" unless ordered to.

[TwilightGardener]

15. Again, I don't think we're worried about that. If this situation IS about retaking Raqqa, it's

either because the Turks are bombing the YPG Kurds we're partnered with and we're letting them know they're going to be killing Americans as well (our guys as human shields), or it's because the Kurds have announced that they don't give a shit about our plans for Raqqa right now and want to do other stuff with all the ammo and weapons we've been airdropping them. In other words, they're getting unruly. Or, we've been in there for a while, and are just afraid of another casualty that will show the administration to have lied.

[bemildred]

16. Those are plausible too.

The taking Raqqa idea seems to be what the Pentagon wants, the YPG and Syrian Arab Army (SAA) with us providing air cover and close air support, they have been talking it up for a while. "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery."

Mind you I'm not saying it makes sense or is likely to work, and you mention some of the reasons for my doubt.

But I see it as a dispute between the Pentagon which "wants some" so bad it can taste it and hates the idea of Russia looking puissant, and the White House which doesn't want to risk more bad PR from the Pentagon's antics.

[KG]

4. LOL, y'all believe anything from 'Russia Times',

oh wait....

[bowens43]

5. why we do we continue to elect idiots?

[razorman]

6. Because apparently, that's all that's available.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

7. Will there be anything pertaining to the War Powers Act or is the law now dead?

[littlewolf]

11. I think it is mostly dead …

[TwilightGardener]

13. Last known discussion/activity: January of this year.

[in_cog_ni_to]

8. So this is what "Hope and Change" looks like. Thank Hillary for her IWR vote!

This is the domino effect of that WRONGHEADED vote! Now, more of our soldiers get to die. Not to mention all the innocent Syrian citizens.

What a freakin' bloody mess!

THANKS HILLARY!

[TwilightGardener]

10. I guess Obama figures she'll send in ground troops anyway, why not grab some

of that glory? Watch for lavish praise from Washington Post and other interventionist/neocon outlets.

[NuclearDem]

17. NO NO NO NO NO HELL NO NO NO NO

[Takket]

19. the never ending quagmire

[mwrguy]

20. "I will not put American boots on the ground in Syria."

:|

[morningfog]

21. "I will close Guantanamo Bay."

[morningfog]

22. "I will end the war in Iraq."

[morningfog]

23. "I will end the war in Afghanistan."