Department of Defense officials finally broke their silence on Thursday, Dec. 19, admitting that they've been harboring roughly 2,000 troops in Syria, far more than the 900 they've been peddling for years.

Analysts argue that what the Pentagon has done is not just a case of a simple miscalculation but a continuation of a pattern seen far too often: the U.S. wading into conflicts without a clear plan, hiding behind the false pretense of doing what's "necessary" and dragging itself further into trouble.

The U.S. has been playing a dangerous game in the Middle East, critics point out. With the recent ouster of President Assad in Syria, people thought that the U.S. government would be taking a step back, not pouring more troops into the region. Instead, the nation not only increased its presence but has done so under a shroud of secrecy, leaving allies and enemies alike guessing at its intentions.

Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder tried to downplay the significance of the troop surge, claiming it's been there "for a while" and was never directly related to the chaos in Syria. This massive uptick in troops happened just as Assad was getting the boot, and any self-respecting military analyst would call that a red flag.

Ryder also tried to pass it off as "diplomatic considerations," however, the Pentagon has a long history of playing this undisclosed card. It's been a go-to tactic for covering up how many troops the U.S. really has in these hot zones.

For critics, one particularly alarming aspect of this revelation is the potential for these newly discovered troops to become embroiled in conflicts with Israel and Turkey, two countries that have been flexing their muscles inside Syria's borders.

Israel's air strikes against Assad's regime and Turkey's offensive against Kurdish forces – both of which have partnered with the U.S. in the fight against ISIS – have the potential to pull these troops into a multi-front nightmare.

Moreover, the U.S. has been playing a similar game in Afghanistan, only recently acknowledging the true number of troops deployed there. It's like the government has a bad case of the jitters whenever they have to come clean about military commitments in these sensitive regions.