This post has been updated.
On Friday, the White House will announce it is sending less than 50 special operations forces to Syria to assist in the fight against the Islamic State.
The senior U.S. official said that the forces will be stationed in northern Syria and working alongside groups with a proven track record of fighting ISIS. The move will be described as a "shift" but not a "change" in U.S. strategy against ISIS, the official added.
The Obama administration refuses to use the word "combat" for this mission. The same goes for the effort in Iraq. Even after a U.S. soldier was killed in a raid on an ISIS-run prison earlier this month, the Pentagon said that it was an "advise-and-assist" mission.
On Fox News Friday morning, former Navy Captain Chuck Nash weighed in on the latest foreign policy announcement, saying he was "disgusted" by the administration's too little too late action.
Press Secretary Josh Earnest reiterated the claim that the administration's strategy in Iraq and Syria hasn't changed during a press conference at the White House. There is no military solution, he insisted. We are "building the capacity of local forces on the ground," he said.