US military ops in Syria getting complicated for Washington
The Pentagon is facing tough questions about the US military's role in Syria. Troops are now limited to a smaller, tougher to defend zone, and focused on protecting oil fields that legally belong to Damascus.
On October 6, US President Donald Trump announced that the 1,000 soldiers deployed in northeast Syria to fight the Islamic State jihadist group would pull back. But a month later, the United States has more or less the same number of personnel on the ground. The special forces fighting ISIS were replaced with armored units in the area of Deir Ezzor in eastern Syria, defending the country's main oil fields.
So, it’s not really a retreat after all?
"We're committed to staying in the region," a Pentagon spokesman, Jonathan Hoffman, said at the same press conference. He added that US troops would remain in Syria "as long as we believe it's necessary."
Until now, US forces controlled all Syrian territory east of the Euphrates, with the benefit of air defenses and the natural border created by the river. Now, the presence of Russian, Turkish and Syrian forces in the north has opened a new front.
https://news.yahoo.com/us-military-ops-syria-getting-complicated-washington-161457844.html
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