President Obama on Thursday defended his decision to send U.S. special operations troops into Syria to fight the Islamic State, saying that when he pledged on 16 separate occasions to not put boots on the ground in Syria, what he actually meant was that there would not be a massive desert invasion.
"You know, when I said no boots on the ground, I think the American people understood generally that we're not going to do an Iraq-style invasion of Iraq or Syria with battalions that are moving across the desert," the president told CBS in an interview that aired Thursday, reports Politico. "But what I've been very clear about is that we are going to systematically squeeze and ultimately destroy ISIL. And that requires us having a military component to that, and the 65-country coalition that we put together has been striking ISIL mercilessly."
At the end of October, the White House announced it would be deploying "less than 50" special operations forces into northern Syria to train rebels and help with logistics as they fight against the Islamic State group. That decision was made despite Obama promising on at least 16 separate occasions that he would not put boots on the ground in Syria, according to USA Today.
On Tuesday, U.S. Army Col. Steve Warren confirmed that the Pentagon will also increase the number of U.S. troops in Iraq by 100, according to Time. The "specialized expeditionary targeting force" will conduct raids, free hostages, gather intelligence, conduct assassinations and capture Islamic State group leaders.
Warren insisted that "we're not talking about the 2003 'Thunder Run' up to Baghdad - that's ground combat. This is something completely different, these are raids."
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi reacted to the announcement by saying that "there is no need for foreign ground combat troops in Iraq."
There are currently about 3,550 U.S. soldiers stationed in Iraq, according to The New York Post.
Obama defended his current strategy in the interview Thursday and said the U.S.-led coalition continues to make territorial gains against the Islamic State group. He also emphasized the importance of building relationships with local forces willing to fight.
"We are developing partnerships, although they are not as strong as we want yet, with local tribes and Sunnis who are willing to fight ISIL," Obama said. "And what I've said is we're going to continually modify and adjust our strategy based on those things that work and those things that may not work."
He acknowledged that the new batch of U.S. special operations forces are "not going to singlehandedly destroy ISIL," but added, "what they can do is give us greater situational awareness on the ground, generate additional intelligence, work with local forces to develop smarter strategies, help direct where airstrikes are going to make the most difference."
