U.S. military briefers are increasingly drawing a distinction between U.S. troops being in “a combat situation” as opposed to just plain “combat.”
The latest to repeat the talking point is Brig. Gen. Charles Cleveland, a senior military spokesman in Afghanistan, where U.S. troops have two missions: counterterrorism, a clear combat role to attack al Qaeda and the Islamic State; and helping the Afghan government forces battle the Taliban.
That second mission is not intended to put the U.S. in direct conflict with the enemy, but nevertheless can put them in the line of fire draw them into the fight:
“While the mission for our guys is not combat, they have found themselves in combat situations where they have to defend themselves,” Cleveland told reporters at the Pentagon Thursday.
“Combat situation” is not a phrase that Defense Secretary Ash Carter uses.
In Germany this week, he described the death of Navy SEAL Charles Keating as a combat death, and when questioned about ambiguous statements from the White House last week, Carter told a Senate committee, “These people are in combat, senator, and I think that we need to say that clearly.”
The difference is more than just semantics in Afghanistan, where the U.S. is technically not at war with the Taliban, just advising, assisting, arming and generally propping up the Afghan forces who are. The status of the mission has political implications as well, since President Obama promised during his campaign to end the war in Afghanistan.
In this new phase, U.S. commanders lack the authorization to directly attack Taliban forces, even if they are massed and pose an attractive target for airstrikes.
Several members of Congress, including South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, have actively pressed the Obama administration to give the U.S. military greater authority to attack the Taliban.
The new U.S. Afghanistan commander, Gen. John “Mick” Nicholson, may submit recommendations to President Obama sometime in the next 30 days.
Will they include new authorities to provide air support to America’s Afghan partners?
“His assessment is pretty broad and comprehensive,” Cleveland told reporters. “He is really looking at all of that as one package, and once he comes to his conclusions he’ll either decide to make recommendations or not.”
