President Barack Obama has told an audience of US troops their comrades fighting Islamic State (IS) militants in Iraq will not have a combat mission.
Mr Obama said he would not commit “to fighting another ground war in Iraq”.
But he said the US had the “unique abilities” to respond to IS, including air support for Iraqi and Kurdish fighters on the ground.
The US has already undertaken 162 air strikes against IS in Iraq since mid-August.
But Mr Obama’s new strategy allows similar attacks in Syria, and calls on a coalition of 40 countries to confront the militant group.
The president’s reassurance to soldiers at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, came a day after a top US general suggested he would recommend US ground troops in the fight against IS if the international campaign of air strikes failed.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen Martin Dempsey confirmed that under the current plan, US military advisers would help the Iraqi army to plan attacks against IS, also known as Isil and Isis.
The jihadist group controls large areas of Syria and northern Iraq. It has between 20,000 and 31,000 fighters in Iraq and Syria, according to CIA estimates.
