US Says Forces Not in Syria to Protect Oil Fields

摘要

The administration of US President Joe Biden has placed another marker on the map of the Middle East that clearly distances it from the policies of the previous administration of Donald Trump, with the Pentagon insisting that the 900 US military personnel now in Syria are not there to protect its oil fields. Trump spoke repeatedly about the US “keeping the oil” in Syria, saying in October 2019 that a limited number of troops would remain in the country’s northeast to protect oil fields, shortly after announcing plans to withdraw troops.