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Special Forces are not regular combat troops so they are always secretive in what they do. It doesn't make any sense to me why people would be surprised about this. Secrecy is why there are about 20 to 100 little wars going on around the world with terrorists all the time going on through special forces. And 90% of the time reporters never find out about this these days. Assymetrical warfare which is secret is the only successful way to fight terrorists western governments have found. Large armies are very vulnerable to truck bombs with armor and other terrorist bombings but if no one knows when special forces will strike next they are not really that vulnerable which is why they are effective.

 

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Pentagon denies US special forces are fighting ISIS on front lines in Syria

CNN

- ‎11 minutes ago‎

Washington (CNN) The Pentagon on Thursday pushed back on assertions that U.S. special operations forces were fighting ISIS fighters on the front lines alongside the Syrian forces they are advising in the battle against the terrorist group.

Pentagon denies U.S. special forces are fighting ISIS on front lines in Syria

By Jamie Crawford, National Security Producer

Updated 5:23 PM ET, Thu May 26, 2016

Armed men in uniform identified by Syrian Democratic Forces as U.S. special operations forces ride in the back of a pickup truck in the village of Fatisah in the northern Syrian province of Raqqa on May 25, 2016.

Story highlights

• A news agency published photos it says are of U.S. special operations forces operating near the front lines north of Raqaa
• U.S. officials have maintained that U.S. forces on the ground are only there to advise and assist local forces

Washington (CNN)The Pentagon on Thursday pushed back on assertions that U.S. special operations forces were fighting ISIS fighters on the front lines alongside the Syrian forces they are advising in the battle against the terrorist group.

Agence France-Presse published photos Thursday that the news agency says are U.S. special operations forces operating near the front lines north of Raqaa, ISIS's self-declared capital, as they conduct their advise-and-assist mission of the Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF, that the United States is assisting in the battle to defeat ISIS.

"Our forces in Iraq and Syria, their instructions, their mission, is clear that they are not at that leading edge," Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook told reporters Thursday. "They're able to defend themselves, but they have to be in a position to be able to provide the kind of advice and assistance needed to help these forces, these local forces, succeed."

Since the beginning of U.S. military involvement in Iraq and Syria against ISIS, U.S. officials have maintained that U.S. forces on the ground are only there to advise and assist local forces in their fight against ISIS, and are prohibited under the rules of engagement to conduct offensive military operations against ISIS.

Despite the apparent closeness to kinetic action in the photos, Pentagon officials maintain that rule of engagement holds true in Syria even though there is no fixed position inside Syria from where U.S. forces cannot move forward from.

Armed men in uniform identified by Syrian Democratic Forces as U.S. special operations forces ride in the back of a pickup truck in the village of Fatisah in the northern Syrian province of Raqqa on May 25, 2016.

"This is a fluid situation where the forward line of troops can be moving," Cook said without ever explicitly confirming the authenticity of the photos or their location to preserve operational security for the U.S. forces. "And so they're doing their best to adjust to the circumstances on the ground, carrying out their mission in an effective way as possible."

U.S. forces in both Iraq and Syria do reserve the right to use their weapons for their personal defense or greater force protection reasons.

Questions regarding the photos were also raised due to the fact that the U.S. special operations forces appear to be wearing the insignia of the YPG, the main Kurdish force inside Syria, the optics of which could present all sorts of difficulties in a multi-ethnic region riven with sectarian tensions.

While refusing to comment specifically on the photos themselves, Cook said in the past, U.S. forces in similar situations have taken various measures to draw attention away from their presence in hostile environments.

"Special operations forces, when they operate in certain areas, do what they can to, if you will, blend in with the community to enhance their own protection, their own security," he said.