The new decisions would put U.S. boots on the ground in Syria for the first time since that country’s civil war began. The U.S. is also deploying A-10s and F-15s to Incirlik Air Base in Turkey, and is working with Iraq to create a special task force to help target ISIS leaders.
Friday’s announcement comes as the U.S has ramped up its military campaign against ISIS. Although U.S. forces have been advising local forces in Iraq, the new decision would mark a new mission in Syria where the U.S. has been conducting airstrikes and arming moderate Syrian rebels.
The White House insisted that the new mission in Syria is not a combat mission and pushed back against the idea the administration is shifting its core strategy against ISIS.
“These forces do not have a combat mission,” White House press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters on Friday.
Earnest said the decision to send fewer than 50 U.S. troops to Syria is, “an intensification strategy the president announced more than a year ago,” to train and advise local forces fighting ISIS.
The move appears to contradict a promise President Obama made in 2013 when he pledged not to put “boots on the ground,” in Syria.
“I will not put American boots on the ground in Syria,” the president said at the time. “I will not pursue an open-ended action like Iraq or Afghanistan.” Earnest said the president’s words were taken out of context.
He said the president’s intention is not to use military forces to depose Syrian President Bashar Assad.