The US isn't putting its troops on the front lines in Syria to fight the Islamic State, despite his decision to deploy special operations troops on the ground, President Barack Obama says.
In his first comments since the deployment was announced, Obama said it was merely an extension of what the US was already doing. He noted that the US had run special operations missions in Syria previously.
Obama said US troops won't be fighting in Syria the way they did in the Iraq War with "battalions and occupations", adding that approach wouldn't solve the problem.
His comments in an interview with NBC News come three days after the White House announced plans to send up to 50 special operations troops to assist Kurdish and Arab forces in northern Syria.
