Deployed Soldier Fact-Checks Kamala Harris’s Claim No Active Duty Troops Currently in a Combat Zone

A US soldier monitors the area as troops patrol oil fields near Syria's northeastern borde
DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP via Getty Images

A deployed U.S. Army soldier delivered a brutal fact check to Vice President Kamala Harris in a video that has now gone viral.

The video features of a clip of Harris during Tuesday’s presidential debate when she falsely claimed that “not one” active-duty member of the military was deployed to a combat zone.

Harris says in the clip, “And as of today, there is not one member of the United States military who is in active duty in a combat zone in any war zone around the world, the first time this century.”

A soldier is then heard saying, “Wait, what?” before the video pans over to at least five other soldiers watching the debate from inside of a tent. One soldier then says, “So where the f-ck are we right now?” prompting laughter from the others.

A caption in the video says “full of lies” with a Pinocchio emoji.

The video was first posted on Instagram account @NotinRegz, an account popular with members of the military. It was credited to the person who filmed the video. The person did not answer questions from people asking where he was deployed at, citing operational security.

 

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A post shared by @notinregz

However, one Instagram commenter said it appeared they were deployed in northeast Syria, and the person who filmed the video “liked” that comment.

As Breitbart News reported, the Biden-Harris administration in June submitted a periodic report to Congress updating members of where U.S. troops are deployed that said there was a “small presence” of U.S. troops in Syria to conduct operations against terrorists.

It said:

Iraq and Syria.  As part of a comprehensive strategy to defeat ISIS, United States Armed Forces are working by, with, and through local partners to conduct operations against ISIS forces in Iraq and Syria and against al-Qa’ida in Syria to limit the potential for resurgence of these groups and to mitigate threats to the United States homeland.  A small presence of United States Armed Forces remains in strategically significant locations in Syria to conduct operations, in partnership with local, vetted ground forces, to address continuing terrorist threats emanating from Syria.  United States Armed Forces in Iraq continue to advise, assist, and enable select elements of the Iraqi security forces, including Iraqi Kurdish security forces.  United States Armed Forces also provide limited support to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization mission in Iraq.  United States Armed Forces, as part of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, remain present in Iraq at the invitation of the Government of Iraq.

There are nearly 1,000 troops currently on bases in Syria, according to USA Today, citing the Department of Defense.

USA Today noted that while “major civil war hostilities in both Syria and Iraq have gradually eased but both places are mired in low-level conflict.”

Just two weeks ago, on August 31, seven U.S. soldiers were injured while leading a military raid in western Iraq that killed at least members of the terrorist group the Islamic State, who were armed with grenades and suicide bombs.

And in January, three U.S. soldiers stationed on the border of Jordan and Syria were killed after their base was targeted by Iran-backed militia.

After Harris’s claim — which ABC News debate moderators did not fact-check — Republican vice-presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance (R-OH) called her “not fit to serve.”

Vance told Fox News Sunday on September 11, “[I]t’s astonishing for the vice president to say this. Just a couple of weeks ago you had American troops who were seriously injured, likely by Iranian-backed militias. The fact that she actually serves as the vice president and is apparently unaware that the people serving underneath her are not just in harm’s way, they’re not just in a combat zone, Martha, they have been actually injured in just the last couple of weeks.”

He added, “And again, it shows how thin and superficial Kamala Harris’s entire approach to public policy is. This is a person who doesn’t know what’s going on. She doesn’t know what’s going on around the world. She can’t articulate her own economic policies. She can’t tell what’s different about her policies from Biden’s policies. There’s just not a whole lot of substance there. Whatever your disagreements about Kamala Harris’s policies, and I have many, I don’t want a vice president who doesn’t even know that we have troops in harm’s way. That’s not a leader that’s fit to serve.”

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Authored by Kristina Wong via Breitbart September 15th 2024