Why is President Obama sending more troops to Syria?
President Obama will send up to 250 additional military personnel inside war-raved Syria to work with opposition forces trying to defeat ISIS.
The president delivered the news in Hannover, Germany while visiting a major industrial trade fair. One group of militias fighting ISIS in Syria said they're happy to get more troops, but also need more weapons.
The president's decision expands the American military footprint in Syria,m from 50 commandos to 300 -- something the president has been very reluctant to do. But this is an attempt to squeeze ISIS as much as he can before leaving office, reports CBS News correspondent Margaret Brennan.
The additional U.S. troops will intensify pressure on ISIS inside their Syrian stronghold. They will provide intelligence, support and logistics to Kurdish and Arab forces who are fighting to recapture Raqqa, the de facto capital of the Islamic State.
The White House insists that these U.S. forces will not be in combat, but admits that they will be in harm's way. This announcement comes just days after the president deployed another 200 advisors to help fight ISIS in Iraq.
Still reeling from recent terror attacks, European allies have urged the U.S. to do more -- specifically, creating a military-protected safe zone inside Syria to stem the flood of refugees. But the president said Sunday that would require a large number of ground troops - a commitment he is still unwilling to make.
"It is very difficult to see how it would operate short of us essentially being willing to militarily take over a big chunk of that country," the president said.
The decision to send more troops comes as the president's attempt to broker a ceasefire in Syria collapsed. He blamed the Assad regime for that failure, which has complicated his plans to end the war.