Who Are You Going to Believe? Me or Your Lying Eyes?

The Pentagon denied U.S. special forces are on the front lines with Kurdish soldiers fighting the Islamic State group after photographs surfaced Thursday of American troops in Syria on the ground advancing toward Raqqa.

[...]

The Pentagon has also repeatedly said U.S. forces are operating in a dangerous place, though troops are not on the front lines. Instead, they are only advising and assisting behind the forward line of Syrian troops.

[...]

Agence France-Presse reported and took photographs of the U.S. special operators manning gun trucks alongside members of the Syrian Democratic Forces.

[...]

Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook on Thursday would not discuss the content of the photographs or the story, citing operational security. But he did say, despite what the photos seemed to capture, [...] “They are not on the forward line.”

[...]

In some of the Agence France-Presse photos, the U.S. operators are wearing the patch of the People’s Protection Units, or YPG as they are commonly known, one of the Kurdish militias participating in the wider umbrella group called Syrian Democratic Forces. After the photos surfaced, Col. Steve Warren, the Baghdad-based spokesman for Operation Inherent Resolve, said via Twitter that U.S. forces will often wear the patches of the forces that they are partnered with as a sign of solidarity.

  Stars and Stripes

Or to try to fool people with cameras.

Yes, that's right. This was published by Stars and Stripes.



...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.