This is a developing story. Hard to get the facts.
Syria is demanding U.S. troops withdraw from the country. / AP filed photo
“US military convoy enters northeast Syria: report,” i24News, January 22, 2021:
A large US military convoy entered northeastern Syria on Thursday, Syrian state news agency SANA reports, citing sources on the ground.
According to the report, the convoy included some 40 trucks and armored vehicles and was backed from the air by helicopters.
It entered Syria from Iraq via the al-Waleed crossing to bring arms and logistical equipment to the bases in Hasakeh and Deir Ezzor provinces.
At the same time, SANA also reports that some 200 US troops arrived in the Hasakeh province on helicopters.
According to the report, the troops are set to deploy on the nearby oilfields, with Kurdish-controlled eastern Syria rich in energy resources.
Syrian oilfields, 2019
Also from 2019:
While most U.S. troops are withdrawing from Syria, the Pentagon is planning a major increase in firepower to protect the ones left behind. If approved, a combat unit armed with tanks would be sent into an area along the Euphrates River to reinforce about 200 lightly armed troops who are staying in Syria to protect the oil fields.
“One of the most significant gains by the U.S. and our partners in the fight against ISIS was gaining control of oil fields in Eastern Syria — a crucial source of revenue for ISIS,” a defense official said.
Some sources report that the most recent move is to prevent ISIS from retaking the oilfields.
Others report that these movements are routine and have been ongoing for several months. It’s just so difficult to get straight facts anymore….
Could this result in a confrontation with the Syrian and Russian Units in the region?
In late 2020, then-US President Donald Trump ordered US troops withdrawn from the area to redeploy to Iraq.
Trump took on the military-industrial complex. Too many politicians and their cronies became indescribably wealthy. Too many of the very best Americans spilled their blood in unending foreign wars.
And it appears that Americans are still in a precarious position. It has been written that such “conflicts cannot conceivably be solved by American intervention, conflicts in which we have no national security or any other interest.”
I don’t yet know enough about the developing situation to make a judgement on whether this is a good or bad thing. I’d hate to see another 20 years of sending precious American young men and women to a unresolvable situation. I’d also hate to see ISIS take the oilfields and the wealth that goes with it. What a continuing mess the Middle East is.
