What are “boots on the ground?”
On Monday night’s “Daily Show,” Jon Stewart looked at the growing number of U.S. troops being sent to Iraq. These soldiers were sent in-country after President Barack Obama promised in September that American combat troops wouldn’t be fighting on foreign soil.
With Friday’s announcement that 1,500 more troops would be sent to Iraq, there are now 3,100 U.S. soldiers in Iraq or on their way there.
But Obama doesn’t call them “boots on the ground.” He says they’re “advisors.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. That’s my mistake. So it’s not 3,000 troops, it’s 3,000 advisors,” Stewart said. “That’s a lot of advice. I feel like after the first 2,000 give their input, it’s mostly gonna be like, ‘Y’know, I just want to reiterate what Tony said.'”
While the president and the Pentagon have gone out of their way to explain how these troops are not “boots on the ground,” Stewart said it all sounded “bullshitty.”