Pentagon reportedly mulling sending ground troops to Syria

An airstrike in Kobani, Syria.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

The Defense Department, tasked by President Trump with putting together a plan by the end of the month to combat the Islamic State, may recommend sending combat troops to Syria, CNN reports.

Today, there are small teams made up mostly of Special Operations forces in Syria, training and assisting anti-ISIS opposition groups. To pick up the pace in the fight against ISIS, a defense official told CNN it's "possible that you may see conventional forces hit the ground in Syria for some period of time." Ultimately, it is up to Trump whether or not to send conventional units, but under the Obama administration, it was decided that the risks of having troops on the ground outweighed the benefits, and the idea was discarded.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.