WASHINGTON DC, USA: The United States will deploy additional forces in eastern Syria to protect oilfields in another policy shift that contradicts Trump’s controversial decision earlier this month to withdraw forces from northeast Syria
The planned reinforcement will take place in coordination with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to prevent the oilfields from falling into the hands of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or ISIS), a Pentagon statement said.
“The US is committed to reinforcing our position, in coordination with our SDF partners, in northeast Syria with additional military assets to prevent those oilfields from falling back into the hands of ISIS or other destabilising actors,” it added.
Earlier on Thursday, US President Donald Trump said on social media the US “will never let a reconstituted ISIS have those fields”.
The latest announcement, however, contradicts Trump’s controversial decision earlier this month to withdraw forces from northeast Syria, which paved the way for Turkey’s military operation in the area.
The new deployment could mean US forces would be like “sitting ducks” being stationed in an area, in which the borders are guarded by Russian and Syrian troops, he added.
"I don't think it's necessary, other than that we secure the oil," President Trump says when asked about leaving U.S. troops in Syria.
"We have a good relationship with the Kurds … we never agreed to protect the Kurds for the rest of their lives.” https://t.co/VzG9KQ7ckE pic.twitter.com/WCmugslVo1
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) October 21, 2019
Brett McGurk, the top US official leading Trump’s anti-ISIL campaign until January, also criticised the latest shift in a social media post.
“The president of the United States of America appears to be calling for a mass migration of Kurds to the desert where they can resettle atop a tiny oilfield. Shocking ignorance of history, geography, law, American values, human decency, and honour.”
Trump had justified his earlier decision to withdraw US forces from Syria, saying he sought to bring about 1,000 troops home and end American involvement there.
Trump said previously a “small number” of US troops would remain in Syria to secure the oilfields.
However, reports from Newsweek and US broadcaster Fox said the deployment may include tanks and hundreds of soldiers.
The Turkish operation in northeastern Syria and the US-allied Kurdish forces has been halted after the US brokered a ceasefire.
Ankara also brokered a deal with Russia that saw the evacuation of Kurdish forces from a vast area along Syria’s border with Turkey.
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