Obama sending US commandos into Syria

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14. President Obama breaks pledge: U.S. will send ground troops into Syria

Conceding that his more than year long strategy of fighting ISIS in Syria without ground troops is at a stalemate, President Obama is expected to announce that U.S. special forces will begin operating in Syria later today.

As Iranian officials join international talks on a diplomatic solution to the crisis in Syria for the first time, the U.S. will now send what the White House describes as a small contingent of about 50 ground troops to ramp up the fight against the Islamic militant group, working alongside a rebel group known as the Syrian Arab Coalition.

The ground forces are “consistent with strategy to intensify the battle against ISIS,” a White House senior official told ABC News:

These forces will work along the Syrian border and not on the front lines with the rebel groups. They will provide training, assistance and advise just as U.S. troops are doing in Iraq.

They will not be in combat, they will work with the Syrian Arab Coalition to facilitate airstrikes, but they are not forward air controllers. They will be at the group’s headquarters speeding up coordination of potential airstrikes.

http://www.salon.com/2015/10/30/president_obama_breaks_pledge_u_s_will_send_ground_troops_into_syria/