US troops conduct op inside Syria?

[Uboat509]

Maybe someone more knowledgable than me knows the answers to these questions. A few statements in the NY Times article don't sound right to me.

1) If the operation was conducted by "American Special Operations forces" then why was it mounted "on orders from the Central Intelligence Agency"?

I doubt that the majority of Americans have any real idea what the the CIA actually does or how they do it. That's fine. They don't really need to know. One small consequence is that statements like that one seem plausible.

2) If the operation was conducted by "American Special Operations forces" then why did they use "Black Hawk helicopters" whether "specially equipped" or not? Aren't MH-53's their vehicle of choice?

There probably aren't many reporters out there who could tell you the difference between a Blackhawk and a Chinook, much less a Pave Hawk.

3) If those facts are wrong, then what else did the "American officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the secrecy of the raid" say in a manner that was incorrectly conveyed or received?

Ken nailed this one. I would add that I have heard of incidences where reporters have overheard parts of other people's conversations and reported them using the "anonymous sources" line or have even reported heresay that they picked up from people who don't have any more real information than they do.

SFC W