While Vice President Kamala Harris didn't say much in the debate against former President Donald Trump, much of what she did say was not fact-checked by ABC's B-list moderators.
According to Fox News, one of her claims regarding her insistence that there are no U.S. military members currently on active duty in a combat zone triggered veterans who know otherwise.
Harris, during the debate, stated that "not one member of the United States military who is on active duty" in a combat zone "for the first time this century."
The Pentagon worked overtime to verify her claim, however, a veteran in the know noted that her statement was, at best, misleading, as the U.S. has "quietly" dialed back designations of active war zones around the world.
Harris thought she was scoring major points for the Biden-Harris administration during the debate when she made the claim.
"As of today, there is not one member of the United States military who is on active duty in a combat zone in any war zone around the world, the first time this century," Harris said.
Fox News noted:
The Pentagon told Fox News Digital service that members are stationed in various dangerous locations but noted that those deployments are made by the Executive Branch and not due to wars declared by Congress.
"An aspect of military service includes serving in locations where hostile actions may occur," a unidentified Defense Official said. "Those locations are designated by executive order and/or the Secretary of Defense."
"However, it’s important to note that just because a service member is in one of these locations does not mean they are engaged in war," the official added. "The U.S. is not currently engaged in a war and does not have troops fighting in active war zones anywhere in the world."
Mark Montgomery, a retired rear admiral and senior director for the Center on Cyber and Tech Innovation at the Foundation for Defense of Democracy, had a much different view of what he considers the reality of the situation.
"I would ask: Is anyone getting combat-related hazardous duty pay?" Montgomery added. "The answer is yes."
Montgomery noted that the U.S. has "quietly shut down designations of war zones over the past few years," making Harris' statement seem extremely misleading.
Not surprisingly, the Pentagon wouldn't confirm whether U.S. troops in areas like Syria and Iraq are receiving combat pay.
"The assertion is especially egregious, as she is the current VP and should know that we recently conducted a raid in Syria killing a senior ISIS commander, several U.S. troops had to be medically evacuated after another raid against ISIS in Syria," said Robert Greenway, combat veteran of the U.S. Special Forces and former senior director for the National Security Council (NSC) during the Trump administration.
