USA Today reports:
The Pentagon is preparing to send tanks and armored vehicles to Syrian oil fields, according to a U.S. official – a stunning reversal of President Trump’s decision to withdraw U.S. forces from the war-torn country after he declared victory over ISIS. The deployment of heavy armor to Syria would represent a significant escalation in the fight, requiring a contingent of additional troops to operate and maintain the vehicles, as well as forces to protect their bases.
Earlier this month, Trump ordered that virtually all of the 1,000 U.S. troops be withdrawn from Syria, a move met with bipartisan condemnation as an abandonment of Kurdish allies in the fight against ISIS. A Defense Department official said the Pentagon is sending additional forces to northeastern Syria to prevent the oil fields from falling back into the hands of ISIS. Both officials were not authorized to speak publicly.
Syrian Kurdish President Ilham Ahmed May Not Welcome U.S. Troops Staying to Guard Oil for Trump @ForeignPolicyhttps://t.co/69YGrTEDtF
— Mutlu Civiroglu (@mutludc) October 25, 2019
US to deploy more troops to eastern Syrian to secure oil fields https://t.co/lhcW8DOyew
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) October 25, 2019
President Trump tweeted that the US military would continue securing oil fields in Syria and also suggested that the Syrian Kurds should consider moving to the region that houses those oil fields, hundreds of miles away from their traditional homelands.https://t.co/WLbu50B1aF pic.twitter.com/gi14kHAeq7
— New Day (@NewDay) October 25, 2019
“The US Defense Department said Thursday it planned to beef up its presence in the northeast corner of Syria to protect oil fields from being retaken by a potentially resurgent Islamic State group.” | https://t.co/ZkHbOjqWXv
— Mike (@Doranimated) October 25, 2019