NBC’s Engel: Troops In Syria ‘Are Going To Be Involved In Combat’

NBC News Chief Foreign Correspondent Richard Engel stated that the US troops who will be sent to Syria “are going to be involved in combat” on Friday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Hardball.”

Engel said, “These troops are going to be involved in combat. They’re — every military analyst I’ve spoken to agrees with that. They’re going to be in harm’s way. People are going to be looking for them and trying to kill them. They’re going to be going out on missions. Even Pentagon officials say that, yes, they will be advising, but they could also be partnering on missions that other special operations forces, other than the 50 that were announced today, will be going out and engaged in unilateral direct action. So, to — the idea that these troops are going to be in Syria, partnered with a militia group that is fighting, in very close quarters, against ISIS. They will be armed. They will have air support above them. I don’t know how that could be described as anything but combat. The White House press secretary today was describing how it’s not like Iraq in 2003. No, it’s not. There’s not going to be 100,000 troops in tanks crossing a berm, but I don’t think anyone suggested said that this is the kind of war that it would be, that it was supposed to look like that. But, yes, this small number of troops will be in situations that I think anyone would describe as combat.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett