WH Claims 'Heavily Armed' 'Forward-Deployed' US Troops 'in the Line' Are not Combat Troops

Thursday during the White House press briefing, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest got into a tortured debate over “semantics standards” with ABC corespondent Jon Karl about whether there will be “combat troops” fighting ISIS.

When Karl asked if there will be ‘heavily armed, American troops on the font lines, in the line of fire,” Earnest said yes but refused to call them “combat troops” even though he acknowledged they will be at the side of Iraqi troops in combat situations.

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