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Critics have provided a fact-check on Vice President Kamala Harris’ declare that the U.S. has “not one member of america navy who’s on lively responsibility” in a fight zone “for the primary time this century,” indicating that the assertion is deceptive.
Harris made the declare in Tuesday’s debate with former President Trump. Whereas her phrasing left room for interpretation, it’s clear that there are U.S. troops in hurt’s manner across the globe.
“As of at this time, there may be not one member of america navy who’s on lively responsibility in a fight zone in any struggle zone world wide, the primary time this century,” Harris stated in the course of the Presidential Debate on ABC.
The Pentagon instructed Fox Information Digital service that members are stationed in numerous harmful places however famous that these deployments are made by the Govt Department and never as a consequence of wars declared by Congress.
“A side of navy service contains serving in places the place hostile actions could happen,” a Protection Official stated. “These places are designated by govt order and/or the Secretary of Protection.”
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“Nevertheless, it’s essential to notice that simply because a service member is in certainly one of these places doesn’t imply they’re engaged in struggle,” the official added. “The U.S. just isn’t at present engaged in a struggle and doesn’t have troops combating in lively struggle zones anyplace on the earth.”
Vice President Kamala Harris went viral along with her response to a query about how she would convey down costs, in an interview with Philadelphia’s 6 ABC anchor Brian Taff. (Screenshot/6 ABC Philadelphia)
Mark Montgomery, senior director for the Middle on Cyber and Tech Innovation on the Basis for Protection of Democracy, instructed Fox Information Digital that the U.S. has “quietly shut down designations of struggle zones over the previous few years.”
“I’d ask: Is anybody getting combat-related hazardous responsibility pay?” Montgomery added. “The reply is sure,” and famous Syria for example.
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The Pentagon didn’t touch upon whether or not troops in nations comparable to Syria, Jordan or Iraq or on different bases across the Center East have acquired hazardous responsibility pay over the previous 10 months as Iran has backed proxies together with the Houthis and Hezbollah.
A switch case is unloaded in the course of the dignified switch ceremony of the stays of three U.S. service members killed within the drone assault on the U.S. navy outpost in Jordan, at Dover Air Pressure Base in Dover, Delaware, on February 2, 2024. (Roberto Schmidt/AFP through Getty Pictures)
Hazardous Obligation Pay is distributed at a month-to-month price of $225 and is payable to a member who’s subjected to hostile hearth, explosion of hostile mines or different hostile motion whereas performing responsibility in a hostile hearth space, uncovered to a hostile hearth occasion or killed, injured or wounded by hostile hearth or explosion, in accordance with Navy.com.
Navy members serving in Lebanon have been eligible for hazardous responsibility pay since 1983, whereas these in Syria have been eligible since 2003 and 2014 for land and air fight, respectively. Iraq has remained an eligible area since 1990.
Robert Greenway, former senior director for the Nationwide Safety Council (NSC) in the course of the Trump administration, famous that the U.S. has “repeatedly” deployed troops to fight zones because the 1991 Gulf Conflict.
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“The assertion is very egregious, as she is the present VP and may know that we just lately carried out a raid in Syria killing a senior ISIS commander, a number of U.S. troops needed to be medically evacuated after one other raid towards ISIS in Syria,” Greenway instructed Fox Information Digital. “A number of servicemembers have been wounded in Iraq when Al Asad Airbase was attacked by Iranian sponsored terrorists lower than a month in the past, and our ships are below near-daily assault within the Pink Sea.”
This image taken on January 4, 2024, reveals a view of the headquarters of Iraq’s In style Mobilisation Forces (PMF) paramilitaries in Baghdad, which was focused on the identical day by a U.S. strike. (Ahmad al–Rubaye/AFP through Getty Pictures)
“A present VP unaware of our navy operations in fight abroad is a dereliction of responsibility,” Greenway added.
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The U.S. has roughly 2,500 troops in Iraq alone, though Iraqi officers this week revealed that they’ve labored out a tentative plan for the U.S. to withdraw most of its troops by 2025 and depart a residual power, The Washington Publish reported.
“The primary part will start this yr and proceed till 2025, whereas the second part will conclude in 2026,” Iraqi Protection Minister Thabit al-Abbasi stated throughout an look on tv.
Peter Aitken is a Fox Information Digital reporter with a give attention to nationwide and world information.
