President Obama’s plan to send up to 50 special forces troops to Syria “to train, advise and assist” is a mistake.

First, recent history should remind Americans that the Vietnam War – which claimed over 58,000 U.S. lives and divided the country – began with a few U.S. advisers on the ground.

Second, the Obama administration has no overall plan on how to address the 5-year-old civil war. The idea of training and equipping so-called moderate forces to overthrow the Bashar Assad regime failed miserably. The rebel forces would not fight, and much of their U.S.-supplied equipment ended up in the hands of extremists.

Allies such as the United Kingdom are unlikely to join the United States with forces in Syria. British Prime Minister David Cameron will almost certainly not receive parliamentary approval for military involvement.

In the meantime, a shaky but real negotiating effort appears to be underway. It involves 20 countries including Iran, an important and more acceptable player in Syria since conclusion of the nuclear deal. If interested parties are trying to end this tragic war through negotiations, the United States should join their efforts, rather than pursue greater military involvement.

Putting U.S. troops in harm’s way is a thoroughly bad move for the United States, and the White House should reconsider.