Syria: John Kerry stumbles on use of US ground troops Mr Kerry began to walk the remark back, saying: "All I did was raise a hypothetical question about some possibility - and I'm thinking out loud - about how to protect America's interests." "There will not be American boots on the ground with respect to the Syrian civil war," said Mr Kerry, saying he wanted to "shut that door as tight as we can." Earlier in his testimony, Mr Kerry also raised eyebrows by insisting repeatedly that "President Obama is not asking America to go to war," despite the US firepower massing in the Mediterranean. His characterisation that the strikes did not constitute war appeared to contradict claims by Chuck Hagel, the defence secretary, who said that both he and Mr Kerry as Vietnam veterans "are not unaware of the costs and ravages of war." Mr Kerry later returned to the issue a third time, saying he was "hypothesising about a potential" and said he was prepared to allow legislation that comprehensively ruled out the use of ground troops. "There's no problem having the language that has zero capacity for American troops on the ground within the authorisation the President is asking for and I don't want anyone in the media or elsewhere to misinterpret that coming out of here," he said.