**UPDATES BELOW**
The Obama administration is expected to announce that ‘dozens’ of special operators will have ‘boots on the ground’ fighting in Syria, reported NBC News’ Richard Engel Friday morning on MSNBC.
Engel also reported an increased U.S. air campaign in Syria and that a rapid response team would be deployed to Iraq as backup for the special operators.
Last week a U.S. special operator, Master Sgt. Joshua L. Wheeler, was killed in Iraq on a mission to rescue hostages held at an ISIS base. This was the first acknowledged KIA in the war against ISIS.
BREAKING: White House to announce today US boots on the ground in Syria, a sr. official tells @NBCNews. @RichardEngel live on special report
— Erika Masonhall (@ErikaMasonhall) October 30, 2015
Flashback to 2013: “I will not put American boots on the ground in Syria.”
UPDATE: NBC News has more:
U.S. to Deploy Special Operations Forces in Syria: Official
The U.S. will send a small number of U.S. special operations forces into Syria as part of a shift in its strategy against ISIS, officials said Friday.
A senior administration official confirmed that President Barack Obama has authorized a contingent of less than 50 special operations forces to deploy into northern Syria.
“We have been focused on intensifying elements of our strategy that have been working, while also moving away from elements of our approach that have proven less effective,” the official explained.
The White House was expected to announce the decision later Friday.
The move will be described as a “shift” but not a “change” in U.S. strategy against ISIS, another senior U.S. official told NBC News. The official said the special operations forces will be stationed in northern Syria and work alongside groups with a “proven track record” of fighting ISIS.
