American 'Boots on the Ground' in Syria? John Kerry's Facepalm Moment
The secretary of state said troops could be deployed to Syria if the situation "imploded" -- then quickly walked the statement back.

John Kerry is no longer a member of the U.S. Senate.
It's a fact he and some of his former colleagues struggled to recall at moments during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing Tuesday on "The Authorization of Use of Force in Syria." Kerry and John McCain bantered like old friends, Kerry stood up for his successor's right to display a nameplate, and Barbara Boxer addressed her former colleague as "John," before quickly correcting herself to "Mr. Secretary."
Kerry, too, at one point seemed to lose sight of the fact he was there as an administration spokesperson seeking to reassure and convince a skeptical public, as well as his former colleagues, and not to think out loud as the discussant he had been for so many years when he served as chairman of the committee. The topic: the critical question of whether the Obama Administration plans for there to be American troops on Syrian soil.
In the House, Democrats Chris Van Hollen and Gerry Connolly have been drafting a reworked version of the proposed White House authorization for use of force. The representatives' version, according to the Washington Post, includes "a legally binding stipulation that no ground troops would be deployed."
"Mr. Secretary, we received from the administration a proposed resolution for the authorization of force, and of course that is a negotiation between the Congress and the administration," current Chairman Robert Menendez of New Jersey asked. "Would you tell us whether you believe that a prohibition for having American boots on the ground -- is that something that the administration would accept as part of a resolution?"
"Mr. Chairman, it would be preferable not to, not because there is any intention or any plan or any desire whatsoever to have boots on the ground," Kerry replied. "And I think the president will give you every assurance in the world, as am I, as has the secretary of defense and the chairman.
It was that kind of a day, a picture captured by McClatchy made clear:
After this MCT photo was taken, Assad burst into flames. pic.twitter.com/m0HQnAJjgX
— Andrew Kaczynski (@BuzzFeedAndrew) September 3, 2013