Is Saudi Arabia Backing Down On Its Warnings That They Are Prepared To Send Ground Troops Into Syria?

Reuters: Saudi troop deployment in Syria up to U.S.-led coalition, foreign minister says

Saudi Arabia said on Sunday that any move to deploy Saudi special forces into Syria will depend on a decision by the U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State.

U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said on Friday he expected both Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to send special operations forces to Syria to help local opposition fighters in their drive to retake the city of Raqqa, Islamic State's de facto capital in Syria.

Saudi Arabia on Saturday confirmed it had sent aircraft to NATO-member Turkey's Incirlik air base for the fight against Islamic State militants.

"The Kingdom's readiness to provide special forces to any ground operations in Syria is linked to a decision to have a ground component to this coalition against Daesh (Islamic State) in Syria - this U.S.-led coalition - so the timing is not up to us," Jubeir told a news conference with his Swiss counterpart in Riyadh.

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WNU Editor: This is a different tone from the Saudi Foreign Minister .... it is certainly not as  forceful as the above video interview with CNN. It looks like someone either told him to "cool it", or his own superiors got cold feet.