When we launch air strikes we almost always have “boots on the ground”. We just don’t talk about it.
By the way, when newsies get hold of a phrase they do tend to wear it out. “Boots on the ground” is one of the most over-used phrases in the newsies’ lexicon. That and “in harm’s way”. They can’t talk without using those two phrases. There are others, too, that just get flogged endlessly. No one said you had to be articulate to be a newsie, I suppose.
Another one is "fierce battle" -- if it wasn't a fierce battle they wouldn't bother to report it. You could make a whole "laundry list" of these phrases.