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Pentagon: US troops are going to be in Iraq 'for years to come'

Secretary Jim Mattis and Chairman of Joint Chiefs Gen. Dunford both agree.

Defense Secretary nominee, retired Marine Corps Gen. James Mattis speaks during his Senate Armed Services Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill, on January 12, 2017 in Washington, DC.

Top Pentagon leaders are warning that the long war is going to get even longer.

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford told Senate leaders on Wednesday that even after ISIS is defeated in Syria and Iraq, US troops will be stationed in the region for at least a few years afterward.

So far, Mattis seems more comfortable placing troops closer to harm's way than his predecessor. Though the Pentagon has long downplayed the role of US ground troops in the fight against ISIS in Iraq and Syria, recent deployments of many more "boots on the ground" suggest they may be front-and-center in the coming months.

In addition to roughly 500 US special operations forces, the military has sent conventional ground troops inside Syria, to include a contingent of Army Rangers, soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division, and artillerymen from 1st Battalion, 4th Marines to provide fire support just 20-30 miles from Raqqa, the ISIS capital.

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