U.S. to Deploy Troops to Syria to Defend Oil Fields

The U.S. will deploy troops to northern Syria to defend oil fields in the region. These “oil fields provided ISIS with the bulk of financial resources used to fund its terror [and] U.S. troops will remain positioned in this strategic area to deny ISIS [future] access”, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper stated in a press briefing yesterday. Additionally, the U.S. Defense Secretary remarked how the “oil fields also provide a critical source of funding for the [Kurdish forces], which enables their ability to secure ISIS’ prison camps”.

The United States’ announcement to deploy troops to the Syria oil fields comes just weeks after President Trump’s decision to pull troops out of the area. Trump says he does “want to bring our soldiers back home,” but he also “want[s] to secure the oil.” “At the end of the day,” Secretary Esper said “it’ll be fewer [troops] than what we had before and they will be going home.”