Special forces to Syria

U.S. sending special forces troops to Syria in ISIL fight

By Nick Gass

The United States is expected to announce Friday that it is sending a limited number of special forces troops to begin operating in northern Syria to advise and assist rebels in the ongoing fight against the Islamic State.

The exact number of advisers participating in the action is unclear, but a senior administration official said President Barack Obama has authorized no more than 50.

"Specifically, we have enhanced our ability to partner with these forces - advising them and helping to facilitate their activities; providing air support for their ground offensives; and directly equipping them so that they are more effective," the official said.

The administration has at the same time "scaled back" parts of its train-and-equip mission in Syria that involved taking forces out of the country.

"We have always been clear that this would be a multi-year campaign, and that continues to be the case. ISIL is a determined enemy. And we will not defeat ISIL by military means alone," the senior administration official said. "That’s why we will continue to lead a 65-partner Coalition that is working to halt the flow of foreign fighters, constrict ISIL’s finances, stabilize liberated communities and counter ISIL’s messaging."

Obama has also authorized the deployment of A-10s and F-15s to Turkey's Incirlik air base as well as enhanced military assistance to Jordan and Lebanon in their anti-ISIL efforts.

Further, the president has authorized consultation with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Abadi and the Iraqi government on forming a special operations task force "to further enhance our ability to target ISIL leaders and networks."

A senior administration official told the Journal separately that the U.S. has no "intention to pursue long-term, large-scale ground combat operations like those we’ve seen in the past in Iraq and Afghanistan."

Secretary of State John Kerry is scheduled to hold a news conference this afternoon in Vienna, where has been meeting with leaders from the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mac Thornberry (R-Texas) called a "more serious effort" against the terror group "long overdue." The committee will hold a hearing on U.S. strategy in the Middle East in the next few weeks.

"Absent a larger coherent strategy, however, these steps may prove to be too little too late," he said in a statement. "I do not see a strategy for success, rather it seems the Administration is trying to avoid a disaster while the President runs out the clock."

The special forces plan comes after Obama said in September 2013 that he would not send any troops to Syria, with respect to the revelation that President Bashar Assad had used chemical weapons on his people in the country's civil war.

"I will not put American boots on the ground in Syria. I will not pursue an open-ended action like Iraq or Afghanistan," he assured the American people in a primetime address from the White House, remarking that limited strikes did not amount to "pinpricks."

"Let me make something clear: The United States military doesn’t do pinpricks. Even a limited strike will send a message to Assad that no other nation can deliver," Obama said at the time. "I don't think we should remove another dictator with force -- we learned from Iraq that doing so makes us responsible for all that comes next."