WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump is considering allowing 200 troops to remain in eastern Syria, and the leading Republican senator Lindsey Graham has hinted to take advantage of Syrian oil there for Kurdish forces and "to protect Israel," The New York Times reported.
A senior administration official told the New York Times that Trump would accept a Pentagon plan to keep 200 troops in eastern Syria near the border with Iraq, for two reasons: combating Islamic State and preventing oil areas in the hands of the regime and Russia.
The New York Times pointed out that three officials in the US administration and the Department of Defense confirmed the decision makers in Washington to study this option.
In a tweet on Twitter, Trump quoted Defense Secretary Mark Esper as saying that the ceasefire was generally coherent in northeastern Syria despite sporadic clashes that quickly ended, adding that US soldiers were not in combat zones or under the agreement, and that the United States had worked On securing oil, stressing at the end of his twitter to end "endless wars."
Late last year, Trump announced an immediate withdrawal of nearly 2,000 US troops from Syria, and soon ordered a phased withdrawal.
Two weeks ago, Trump again announced that his country would withdraw its 1,000 troops, then the defense secretary hinted they would go to western Iraq, while the United States has about 125 troops in the Syrian area of al-Tanf on the border with Iraq and Jordan.
Graham: Our main goal of all this is to protect Israel (French)
Protecting Israel
On the other hand, Lindsey Graham said during a meeting with the network "Fox News" that Trump's proposal in dealing with oil fields in Syria may generate revenue for the region, and generate income from which to pay the costs of the US commitment in Syria, hinting to Trump's willingness to use troops US Air Force "so that ISIS fighters do not get out of their hideouts."
"I think we are about to embark on a joint project between us and the SDF to modernize the oil fields and ensure that they are the ones who are earning revenue, not Iran or Bashar al-Assad's regime," said the senior Republican senator.
Graham said that Trump's efforts reinforced his optimism that a solution could be found that would secure Turkey's security, that of the Kurds, and contain the ISIS fighters.
Source: Aljazeera
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