Pentagon spokesman Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters at the Pentagon yesterday that the number of U.S. troops in Syria isn’t 900 as had been publicly reported, but is actually around 2,000. “As I understand it and as it was explained to me, these additional forces are considered temporary rotational forces that deploy to meet shifting mission requirements, whereas the core 900 deployers are on longer term deployments,” Ryder said. Ryder said the troops had been there for “at a minimum, months.”