Military experts dismiss Harris’ claim that ‘there are no US troops in combat zones’ as misleading

Critics have offered a fact-check on Vice President Kamala Harris’ claim that the United States “does not have a single United States military member on active duty” in a combat zone for the first time this century, calling the statement misleading.

Harris made the claim in Tuesday’s debate with former President Trump. While her wording was open to interpretation, it’s clear that U.S. troops are in danger all over the world.

“To this day, there is not a single member of the United States military who has served in a combat zone in any war zone in the world, for the first time in this century,” Harris said during the presidential debate on ABC.

The Pentagon told Fox News Digital that members are stationed in a variety of dangerous locations, but emphasized that the deployments are the work of the executive branch and are not caused by wars declared by Congress.

“The military service aspect includes serving in locations where hostile action may occur,” a Defense Department official said. “These locations are designated by executive order and/or the Secretary of Defense.”

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“However, it is important to note that simply having a soldier in one of these locations does not mean he or she is engaged in war,” the official added. “The United States is not currently engaged in war and does not have soldiers fighting in active war zones anywhere in the world.”

Mark Montgomery, a retired rear admiral and senior director of the Center for Cyber ​​and Technology Innovation at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Fox News Digital that the United States has “quietly stopped designating war zones over the last few years.”

“I would ask, ‘Does anyone get a paycheck for dangerous combat duty?’” Montgomery added. “The answer is yes,” and he cited Syria as an example.

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The Pentagon has not commented on whether troops stationed in countries such as Syria, Jordan and Iraq or at other bases in the Middle East have been paid for dangerous duties in the past 10 months because of Iran’s support for groups such as the Houthis and Hezbollah.

The hazardous duty allowance is paid at a monthly rate of $225 and is available to a member who, while performing duties in an area threatened by hostile fire, is the victim of hostile fire, an explosion of a hostile mine or other hostile action, is exposed to hostile fire, or is killed, wounded or injured as a result of hostile fire or explosion, according to Military.com.

Soldiers serving in Lebanon have been eligible for the hazardous duty allowance since 1983, while those in Syria have been eligible since 2003 and 2014 for ground and air combat, respectively. Iraq has remained an eligible region since 1990.

Robert Greenway, a veteran of U.S. special forces combat and former senior director of the National Security Council (NSC) in the Trump administration, noted that the United States has “continuously” sent troops to combat zones since the 1991 Gulf War.

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“This claim is particularly egregious because she is the current vice president and should know that we recently conducted an airstrike in Syria, killing a senior ISIS commander, several U.S. troops had to be medically evacuated after another airstrike against ISIS in Syria,” Greenway told Fox News Digital. “Several troops were injured in Iraq when Al Asad Air Base was attacked by Iranian-sponsored terrorists less than a month ago, and our ships are under attack in the Red Sea on a near-daily basis.”

“The current vice president, unaware of our military operations abroad, is derelict in his duty,” Greenway added.

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The U.S. has about 2,500 troops in Iraq alone, but Iraqi officials revealed this week that they have developed a preliminary plan under which the U.S. would withdraw most of its troops by 2025, leaving only a residual force, The Washington Post reported.

“The first stage will start this year and last until 2025, while the second stage will end in 2026,” Iraqi Defense Minister Thabit al-Abbasi said in a televised speech.