Obama Admin Denies Saying “No Boots on the Ground” in Syria After Saying It 16 Times

By Claire Bernish

What does a government do when it’s caught in a flagrant lie? If you are the U.S. government, you simply tell another lie — and laugh at anyone who tries to call out your hypocrisy.

Setting aside his oft-parroted no-boots-on-the-ground imperative, President Obama announced Monday the U.S. would be quintupling the number of special forces troops deployed to Syria to fight Daesh (the so-called Islamic State). In fact, the announcement was made later on the same day Obama claimed to have “ruled out” the deployment of ground troops.

Though this reneging on stated foreign policy has become somewhat par for the course, State Department spokesman John Kirby not only missed the hypocritical move, he flatly and bafflingly denied the Obama administration’s repeated claim there would be “no boots on the ground.”

In fact, instead of taking responsibility for initiating military maneuvers the public might find displeasing, the Obama administration has developed an apparent affinity for nitpicking semantics.

In a press conference, this farcical denial of reality reached stupefying proportions when Kirby was asked by an Associated Press reporter about this stark reversal of policy. All emphasis has been added to highlight the absurdities.

“I’m just curious if this is, like, part of some kind of devious grand strategy to say one thing and then do the complete opposite of it,” the reporter queried.

“I just — I don’t see it that way,” Kirby responded. “There was never this ‘no boots on the ground.’ I don’t know where this keeps coming from.”

Pressing the point, the reporter expounded, “For months and months and months, the mantra — from the President and … everyone else in the Administration — has been ‘no boots on the ground,’ and now —”

“That is not true,” Kirby interrupted.

“What?!” the reporter exclaimed — apparently as baffled as the rest of the press, heard murmuring in similar disbelief around the room.

“It’s just not true,” Kirby persisted, appearing almost smug, leaning on the podium. “It’s just not true.”

Of course, it is true — and Kirby’s semantic gymnastics to justify such a brazen lie added an Orwellian twist to the already Kafkaesque press conference. And that truth is written in black and white — even on the White House website, at least as far back as August 2013, when Obama stated:

[I]n no event are we considering any kind of military action that would involve boots on the ground; that would involve a long-term campaign.

On August 31, 2013, Obama asserted from the Rose Garden:

After careful deliberation, I have decided that the United States should take military action against Syrian regime targets … We would not put boots on the ground.

Then, on September 10, 2013 — once again, as found in print on the White House site — he reiterated:

First, many of you have asked, won’t this put us on a slippery slope to another war?

My answer is simple: I will not put American boots on the ground in Syria.

On September 3, 2013, he again said:

[The U.S. involvement in Syria] does not involve boots on the ground.

September 9, 2013, brought the same statement from the president, in an interview with PBS Newshour:

Tomorrow, I’ll speak to the American people. I’ll explain this is not Iraq; this is not Afghanistan; this is not even Libya. We’re talking about — not boots on the ground.

Again, Obama repeated on September 7, 2014, as the Intercept noted:

In Syria, the boots on the ground have to be Syrian.

Though after the last statement, Obama’s characterization of ‘no boots on the ground’ began a subtle shift in language — evidencing mission creep — he sustained the narrative troops would not be deployed on the ground.

At the White House on February 11, 2015, reported USA Today, Obama remarked:

The resolution we’ve submitted today does not call for the deployment of U.S. ground combat forces to Iraq or Syria.

It’s arguable the United States populace could handle an honest statement outlining policy many may not agree with — such as the deployment of boots on the ground — if the plan were forthrightly presented.

But for Obama and other officials to repeatedly claim as much, and to then have the State Department act as if the people, themselves, have collectively lost their minds when pointing out the mendacious gaffe, is downright laughable — if not profoundly insulting.

It has become clear the United States mission to fight Daesh — with the secondary goal to oust Syrian President Bashar al-Assad — will involve boots on the ground. But it’s questionable whether the Obama administration with ever manage to admit to as much.

This article (Obama Admin Denies Saying “No Boots on the Ground” in Syria After Saying It 16 Times) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Claire Bernish and theAntiMedia.org. Anti-Media Radio airs weeknights at 11pm Eastern/8pm Pacific. Image credit: Afghanistan Matters. If you spot a typo, email edits@theantimedia.org.


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37 Comments on "Obama Admin Denies Saying “No Boots on the Ground” in Syria After Saying It 16 Times"

  1. George Carlin was right when he said he didn’t trust anything the government says.

    • Yep, full on Orwell at this point. The truth is more likely to be the exact opposite of what they tell us. Remember the Obamacare working group that said “mandatory insurance laws meant more freedom for the American people”?

      • Hi blue….Looks like Orwell wrote the playbook-as-novel. Most of our required reading in school was programming us to create the future… and here we are, watching it all play out as we create it in real time. It’s not just the Lying Kirbys, we’re all dreaming this into being. The only way to shut it down is to stop creating it and create something else. All of us. I wish people would wake up to the fact we are all part of this, all responsible. The Bible functions the same way, using our beliefs to create Armageddon by telling us we are all sinners and deserving our fate, so we bring it on simply by believing it.

        Ha! Looks like I grabbed the podium from Silly Kirby Derby there for a second!

        • Hey OldeSoul, good to see you around! Yes, absolutely spot on, the whole thing is predictive programming, you name it – education, entertainment, religion, technology, art, yada, yada…. I especially liked your description of what it’s like to realize we’ve been given the slow IV drip of propaganda conditioning all of our lives. You probably know Orwell and Huxley ran in the same elitist circles. I didn’t know until a year or two ago that Huxley moved to Hollywood and was paid handsomely to write screenplays. He also was a key player in MK Ultra and was behind the recruitment of Tim Leary assisting the CIA in its creation of the psychedelic counter culture fusing it to cybernetics. “Rabbit hole” doesn’t do it justice, ya think? Abyss? You got me with Kirby Derby. How’s the MT ranch scene going? Gotta love spring! 🙂

          • OldeSoul | May 1, 2016 at 6:18 pm |

            Yes, it was most upsetting to learn all our heroes were cabal cowboys. Most of what you wrote I learned some time ago and it still pisses me off that it was all contrived: Elvis, Leary, Charles Manson (a clever CIA murder plot to put the final knife through the heart of the hippie movement) and rock-n-roll was scripted along with everything else. But you know what? I still love to listen to it, screw them. When I get a mild case of anarchy going, I listen to Crosby Stills, Hendrix, etc. just to remember what that felt like to be righteous. It was all for naught of course, but it was a fun psycho-naut while it lasted.

            MT is beautiful in the spring, thanks for asking. Getting ready for my annual mountain bike ride on the Going to the Sun Road in Glacier tomorrow a.m.. It’s a 15 mile uphill grind through scenery that will knock your pants off, then a race downhill through avalanche and bear territory, followed by a cold beer on the river in the hot sun. Life is good…. if you can stay healthy enough to live it fit and proper. See the teeny weeny people by the snow drift, right above the waterfall? Kind of puts life in perspective.

            I hope you are having some fun in whatever way floats your life raft.

          • Elvis too, OMG! LOL My mom had a thing for him for awhile. Geez! I love Hendrix, Voodoo Child is out of this world as is SRV’s version. I love Zeppelin too, esp. Page’s performances and even though I know their history I still need a LZ fix once in awhile. Pink Floyd? I hope their tunes weren’t corrupted by the establishment. A lot of their lyrics speak to the awake masses and Gilmour is such a master. When I was in college the grunge bands were big but not exciting. I saw the Huxley Hollywood description on Wiki, hat tip to Jan Irvin et al from Gnostic Media for using FOIA requests to nail the MK Ultra link, worked out ~ 2 years ago. You’re a deep diving thinker OldeSoul, another indigo? Have fun on the Sun Road trip, sounds like the perfect combination of yin and yang, and a cold microbrew at the end of the course. Awesome! What a gorgeous pic, thanks, reminds me of images of people scaling the face of The Diamond on Long’s Peak, a favorite area of mine to hike. Yeah, perspective is always good! Hey I complimented and thanked some pine trees today., felt like I was in Lord of The Rings. Gotta practice! 😉

        • Hi OldeSoul, replying below to your last comment, 3rd attempt finally went through using same wording. I went back and shortened my two replies waiting for approval. Apologies for any confusion. You may not get this either, who knows?

          • OldeSoul | May 3, 2016 at 7:28 am |

            I got this but don’t see your longer reply anywhere. I’ll check back later.

          • Now it’s been deleted, as were the two edits saying “thanks” for the link. Strange, nothing controversial in my original reply, mostly a thank you.

          • OldeSoul | May 3, 2016 at 6:53 pm |

            Ah. So I’m guessing Mr. Mathis hits a lot of home runs out of the controller ballpark. Whenever my comments get banned for no obvious reason it’s usually because I got a little too close to the truth. Apparently they don’t realize that tells us exactly what path to follow. I’ve always gone by the notion that we are a lot smarter than a herd of reptiles and they keep proving me right.

            Speaking of black choppers busy elsewhere…. I had one hovering over my house not long ago. My buddy is a fireman/EMR/SAR and since he works with all the rescue choppers in the area and had never seen this one before, he called in to central dispatch asking what was going on. The dispatcher told him they were looking for a guy who had escaped with a time machine. Huh? So they are real, they are spooky, and they have nothing to do but follow every paranoid thought they have like bloodhounds.

          • I agree about the various clues of what to follow and picking up on the frames. Miles is a very good writer and his views resonate. I read his paper on A Beautiful Mind and John Nash – intriguing for me on countless levels given my neuroscience understanding of schizophrenia; academic level readings on fMRI studies of neuroeconomics, a branch of economics merged with psychology designed to explore the biochemistry and brain architecture behind Game Theory; and a long held fascination with Kaczynski’s story. I think Ted’s tale was best unwound in the documentary The Net, The Unabomber, LSD, and The Internet (available on youtube). You may already know that Kaczynski appears to have flipped when subjected to MK Ultra experiments at Harvard and then went on to figure out what kind of cage was being built for humanity. I also read Miles’ excellent analysis of a British television series with Stephen Hawking and his Brave New World. What a load of BS Hawking is trying to shill! Sounds like a parody or Sat. Night Live skit. The absurdity always amazes me. Miles made a few small errors though and coincidentally one had to do with Huxley, who Miles believes, along with Orwell, had good intentions and was trying to warn humanity. Great reads, I appreciate the tip! To return the favor I’ll direct you to redefininggod (dot) com, an interesting site to explore published by a blogger by the first name Ken. He started analyzing the bankster cabal doing remarkable work and then branched out into some far out ruminations – much of it is good food for thought.

          • I was pretty sure you’d sink your teeth into a few of Miles’ many topics. I’ve been picking my way through them going on two years now. I am also fascinated by John Nash, Stephen Hawking and the Unibomber… looks like we share a mutual interest in crazy geniuses. Miles, in fact, is probably a crazy genius. If you get a chance, look at his art. He’s also some kind of math wizard and has a whole slew of writings about math fakery, etc. although I avoid math at all costs so I haven’t delved into that part of his head. It appears the common thread throughout his essays is how the CIA enlists and uses people with all types of talent, intellect, and skills to further their nefarious plans.

            Yep, I know Ken at Redefining God, we’re old buddies. He’s a very good dot connector although he has a few notable blind spots. I remember in particular a long time ago he got very upset about David Icke, said he agreed with everything David said except the lizards. I thought this was pretty funny at the time since how can a person be right about everything except for the one thing that holds all the other things in place? I think a lot of people have reluctantly climbed onto Icke’s Flying Space Lizards bandwagon over the years, perhaps even Ken! I will check in with him and see how he’s doing. Thanks for that!

          • I’m probably closer to Ken’s view on lizards since we don’t have good tangible evidence. Plus I’m always mindful of TPTB’s use of fear based control and layered narratives to create confusion. Like Armageddon, aliens would be a good way to get a large segment of the population to sit on their hands – why fight it? Intelligence infused narrative on aliens = Mind job – – that was always my gut feeling. Cathy O’Brien’s Trance-Formation of America described a psy op of lizard alien holograms used to brainwash and intimidate. When the pope makes a public statement he will welcome aliens and baptize them, you know something is up! LOL Nothing surprises me anymore, one way or the other but there are a lot of people who we need on our side who will dismiss easily proven conspiracies such as geoengineering, vaccines, NWO technocracy, 9/11, etc. if we’re insistent on more nebulous issues. Anyway, fantastic you know Ken! He’s having personal issues with SOTT and ZH as you can see from his most recent post. I don’t go to SOTT but do scan ZH often and they’ve been downright egregious with their disinfo lately and a lot of the smart folks who used to call them out don’t seem to be around, here too. We both know the art of the infowar involves attrition, wearing people down. Hey, pass along my heartfelt thanks to Ken. See ya on the bright side of the moon, Olde Soul. 😉

          • OldeSoul | May 4, 2016 at 9:16 am |

            I really love to hear your take on things. You’re a very deep thinker. I used to think of myself that way, always probing for the concealed meaning in everything, overly analytical, using my “prodigious curiosity” or so I thought of it, to seek the truth of things. Through the practice of shamanism and animal communication, I learned to let go and let the truth seek me. In other words, relax and let the truth reveal itself. Then (and only then) can you live it. This actually works.

            Then you get to a place where you’ve uncovered all the dirt of the world, the pedo-creeps and corruption and lies, you are able to release the idea that you have some control on these things, which you don’t because they are not yours. You cannot fight the matrix, you have to leave it. Then you are freed to create a different reality. I think this is the part of the journey you have not reached yet, but I’m sure you will once you have come to that fork in the road.

            I think the reason I kind of like the idea of the FSLs is due to gnosticism where they are first described. This is where Icke and John Lamb Lash discovered them, and then you start looking at archeological, mythological and ancient writings and the stupid creatures pop up everywhere. I had several personal experiences with them myself, as did my very grounded twin flame, so I no longer labor wondering whether they are fabricated or not. Instead, I realize how ridiculously easy they are to beat. Nike gave us that clue: just say no, and they go. No fear reaction is necessary, it’s that easy. It’s the people who say to them,”Yes, give me everything I want and I’ll do what you want” who control the world. Really and truly, they only the control their world, not yours, not mine.

            We are powerful beings, blue. We have unlimited abilities to do things we are taught are impossible. We can create magic every day and spread all that magic around to others in your life. At first people think you’ve lost your mind, but if you remain firmly grounded to Gaia, she is the truth, and soon they come to realize you have found your soul and they long to find theirs too. This is how we change the world, one lost soul at a time.

          • Thank you for sharing that and I largely concur in terms of learning and teaching how to move away from it. My general take is we can do both personal growth and broad teaching. Perhaps like Zen, I have an inner voice that reminds me why I am here, a place and time I would not have chosen if not to help make the shift for others in a unique way. As for aliens, I know there is a psy op component found in bogus alt media venues (e.g. S. Stone, even Thrive) and mainstream (Ancient Aliens – beautifully debunked) that fits the agenda. I also believe we are hardwired to re-create our archetype fears, whether it’s cultural mythology (Joseph Campbell), nightmares and daymares (me as a young child deconstructing organized religion) or some form of art (the role of the Id in The Forbidden Planet). As a long time student of the many branches of evolution I fully acknowledge our 3-layered brain which includes the ancient reptilian vertebrate base. This has to be something that’s deeply recognized going back to the earliest humans. Who knows? I’ve discussed this at great length with someone who could also be considered my twin flame and he has had several experiences with these beings in conscious altered states, one was recreating birthing patterns for hours in a float tank. He says he doesn’t know if these beings are real and with degrees in psychology understands the slippery slopes the mind can wander on to – these images came to him after he became aware of the ideas of Icke, etc. I am very open to a greater understanding and thanks again your perspective.

          • OldeSoul | May 4, 2016 at 9:55 pm |

            I agree, there is definitely a huge psyop component with aliens, disclosure, etc. Steven Greer, who even looks reptilian, shapeshifts his way through lectures for instance. Then there is Carol Rosin and her descriptions of Werner Von Braun’s list of the psyops they had planned for us way back when, I’m sure you’ve heard her talk on this, it’s Wake Up 101. Then we have the Corey Goode/David Wilcock tag team… it’s almost laughable at times and you have to stand back and ask WTF am I looking at? It smells like another globalist problem/reaction/solution script for sure, but I think they are only stealing the thunder from the many multidimensional beings around us, all while using their technology and pretending it was all invented by humans, while scaring people about a potential alien invasion, even though they’ve been telling us aliens don’t exist. That’s a lot of opposing spinning plates to hold in the air at once and I don’t they’re doing a very good job of it. Throw in manipulated genetic evolution and you have hybrid humans (us) which makes a lot more sense than “descending” (always loved that derogatory term) from apes via a missing link that isn’t really missing and never was.

            Interesting that we both have twin flames isn’t it? Like him, the times I was approached by the FSLs were in altered states, what would be more accurately called vulnerable states. Each time I shooed them away like the pests they are and I could hear them laughing hysterically as they flew off, sounding like a bad laugh track from an old sitcom. The laughing was a huge clue for me- they are losers, cannot create a single thing themselves, and need humans to do all their creative labor. (This was all covered by the gnostics.) I have zero regard for them and I’m always aware of keeping my vibration high enough that they do not approach me again.

            Which reminds me, the other day I was meditating and talking to my guides and one of them revealed, “You really want to know the truth of things? You volunteered to be a contestant in a virtual reality matrix game, think Survivor Earth. This particular game is called Free Will. You’re doing great so far!”

            Are they real? One must first answer the question- What is real in a virtual reality matrix? Feel free to answer that one!

    • …anything….zero….zip….nada….
      RJ O’Guillory

    • Yeah, except I didn’t need George Carlin to tell me that.

    • ” I believe nothing my government tells me” I think the quote is how right he was .

  2. locutus_of_klingons | April 30, 2016 at 5:50 pm |

    by no boots he ment boots. you don’t get it yet right. the opposite is right

  3. This man is mk ultra brain washed . His brain does not live in our collective reality

  4. “Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace.
    Where there is hatred, let me sow love,
    Where there is injury, pardon;
    Where there is doubt, faith;
    Where there is despair, hope;
    Where there is darkness, light;
    And where there is sadness, joy.
    O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
    to be consoled as to console,
    to be understood as to understand,
    to be loved, as to love.
    For it is in giving that we receive,
    It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
    and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.”

  5. “On three noble ideals be ever intent:
    The good thought well thought,
    The good word well spoken,
    The good deed well done.”

  6. David Icke coined this as the surreptitious ‘totalitarian-tip-toe’… as a fascistic/ militaristic ingress by the 0.001% NWO $$$ billionaire/trillionaire parasities

  7. Like I said, Glass slippers, a fairy story from the chief fairy, no boots on the ground!

    • Please don’t impugn faeries by comparing them to Obama the warmongering infidel. Faeries don’t lie, in fact they are most often brutally honest.

  8. …and if you like your plan….

    Obama lie #231768831628732719812

  9. This from the no name potus.
    All theater all the time – all lies all the time. All odious – right Barry.
    TAXATION is THEFT.
    USURY is THEFT.

  10. Mr. Kirby is obviously a programmable version of a human but even his robot brain has trouble balancing his matrix programming when faced with reality. Either we unplug their wires or we unplug from them all together and let them thrash around alone in their swamp of lies. Trying to parse insanity will make you as insane as they are.

  11. Hey, maybe Obama envisions His Muslim Army wearing “Sandals” and NO Boots

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  13. Crypto Neo Roman Empire | May 2, 2016 at 10:24 pm |

    Beyond truth… is it beyond accountability?

  14. By “boot…Bolshevik Jews out of their nation”, you mean MURDER several million of them, along with millions of other people. Sounds like you are all in favor of that. OMG…

    • I just checked the status of my explanation to your reply. It seems it’s still “pending”. let’s see what ultimately happens to it. Perhaps the other commenter was correct in his labeling of “Activist Post”? Perhaps the shill rag “Raw Story” has an affiliation? We will have our answer in a few hours/days, no? then it will be time for “unsubscribing” en mass. The comment had NO foul language, is historically correct and has active links to corroborating sites.

  15. No More BS Please | May 7, 2016 at 4:21 pm |

    I know it is an old saying but….

    How do you tell when the effing POS in the WH and his islamic diseased advisors are lying?

    Their lips are moving.

  16. Surely we understand Obama’s position by now. It is quite clear that he advocates for the destruction of ISIL, but not for an involvement in a Syrian civil war. While we keep hearing ‘no boots on the ground’ being thrown around by those challenged by Myopia, in the end, what other way would eventuate the defeat of ISIL at their last stronghold? Do you expect Obama to order the complete annihilation of an entire city and surrounds? If you have an educated brain, may i suggest you use it more wisely.

  17. Satisfy your own paranoia.. does a narrative that denies what it would have been like with a USA v Syria v Russia civil war just happen to suit you? Well, it turns out Obama was right, wasn’t he!

    I see you buddy!

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