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Major developments out of the pentagon today on the u.s. fight against isis. defense secretary ash carter announcing a new u.s. combat force to head to iraq. >> in full coordination with the government of iraq we are deploying a specialized expeditionary targeting force to assist iraqi and kurdish peshmerga forces and put even more pressure on isil. these special operators will over time be able to conduct raids, free hostages, gather intelligence, and capture isil leaders. this force will also be in a position to conduct unilateral operations in sir why. >> secretary carter went on to say the...

Them get am nation and facilitating air strikes. that's all a big deal. they're not going to fight themselves, but they'll help them. they'll be defensive in a sense that if somebody fires at them, they'll respond. but they're not part of a direct combat force. the president put himself in a box a long time ago when he said no boots on the ground. when the intent was right from the beginning to provide trainers and advisers, who of course would be on the ground. but not in a combat role. that's the words he should have used then. and he's been backing up ever since. the strange thing about thi...

Syria, american boots on the ground would not only be good for america but also would be good for syria. >> i will not put american boots on the ground if syria. i will not pursue an open ended action like iraq or afghanistan. >> the resolution resubmitted today does not call for the deployment of u.s. ground combat forces to iraq or syria. now, combat force, that's the important phrase, the white house press secretary saying some of these conversations were about the fight against assad, not the fight against isis. does this correspond with the president's promise? is this a flip-flop a river...

Of what is happening. we aren't talking unifor parts landing somewhere. we are talking about what the mission is of these individuals who will go there. i think there is an attempt to portray people who are in combat on the ground. when you have large forces there, that's a combat force. they conduct operations. they go after the enemy. in this case, special operators are advisers. they are helping knit together a very strange patchwork of not only sunni-arab coalition but also kurdish fighters. so they can be more effective in northern syria and in iraq. >> let's put that grabbing up. i think...

Of defense cuts. our navy at pre-world war 1 levels. and our air force with the smallest and oldest combat force in its history. >> that was marco rubio yesterday with a critical look at the state of the military under president obama. squoib joining us now anne gearan and joseph nye jr., author of the book is the american century over? good to have you both on board. >> great to have you with us. i'm certainly not picking on marco rubio because i say this about people in both parties. but when you have a defense budget that is $550 billion and everybody is arguing they need more money you're ...