Another unfortunate 'told you so': U.S. to Begin 'Direct Action on the Ground' in Iraq, Syria

Defense Secretary Ash Carter said Tuesday that the U.S. will openly begin "direct action on the ground" against ISIS forces in Iraq and Syria.

In his testimony before the Senate Armed Services committee, Carter said "we won't hold back from supporting capable partners in opportunistic attacks against ISIL...or conducting such mission directly, whether by strikes from the air or direct action on the ground."

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This may mean some American soldiers "will be in harm's way, no question about it," Carter said last week.

After months of denying that U.S. troops would be in any combat role in Iraq, Carter late last week in a response to a question posed by NBC News, also acknowledged that the situation U.S. soldiers found themselves in during the raid in Hawija was combat.

"This is combat and things are complicated," Carter said.

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/sec-carter-direct-u-s-action-ground-iraq-syria-n452131