The US will send armored vehicles and combat troops into eastern Syria to keep oil fields from potentially falling into the hands of Islamic State (IS) militants, US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said on Friday.
It was the latest sign that extracting the US military from Syria is more uncertain and complicated than US President Donald Trump is making it out to be.
Although Trump has repeatedly said he is pulling US troops out of Syria, the reality on the ground is different.
Adding armored reinforcements in the oil-producing area of Syria could mean sending several hundred US troops — even as a similar number are being withdrawn from a separate mission closer to the border with Turkey, where Russian forces have been filling the vacuum.
Esper described the added force as “mechanized,” which means it likely will include armored vehicles, such as Bradley armored infantry carriers and possibly tanks, although details were still being worked out.
The reinforcement would introduce a new dimension to the US military presence in Syria, which largely has been comprised of special operations forces not equipped with tanks or other armored vehicles.
Esper spoke at a news conference at NATO headquarters in Brussels, where he consulted with US allies.
Sending an armored force to eastern Syria would partially reverse the ongoing shrinkage of the US troop presence in Syria. Trump has ordered the withdrawal of nearly all 1,000 US troops who had been partnering with a Syrian Kurdish-led militia against the IS.
The withdrawal is proceeding even as Esper announced the plan to put reinforcements in the oil-producing area.
Speaking to reporters Friday at the White House, Trump said the US-brokered agreement with Turkey to halt its offensive against US-supporting Syrian Kurdish fighters was a win for his administration.
That offensive began after Trump announced that US troops would not stand in the way, although he also said the US would punish Turkey’s economy if the country acted inhumanely.
He also said anew on Friday that “we’re getting our troops out” of Syria, without mentioning Esper’s announcement.
“We are doing well in Syria, with Turkey and everybody else that we’re dealing with,” Trump said. “We have secured the oil... We have a couple of people that came knocking, we said don’t knock. And I think I would say that things are going very well.”
White House officials would not clarify whom he was referring to as “knocking.”
US Special Representative for Syria James Jeffrey said in Geneva, Switzerland, on Friday that he had talked to a Russian official about an unspecified issue in Syria’s oil region.
“We are currently very concerned about certain developments in the south, in the Deir Ezzor area,” Jeffrey said. “I’ve talked to my Russian colleague about that and we’re having other contacts with the Russians concerning that situation. We think it is under control now.”
Although Esper did not mention the size of the US reinforcements, it could total several hundred troops, because fuel-guzzling tanks and other armored vehicles depend on a large supply and logistical support group.
One official, who discussed the planning on condition of anonymity because some details remained to be agreed, said that tanks might eventually be eliminated from the mix because of logistical challenges, including air transport.
“Oil is secured,” Trump wrote on Twitter on Friday.
“Our soldiers have left and are leaving Syria for other places, then.... COMING HOME! ... When these pundit fools who have called the Middle East wrong for 20 years ask what we are getting out of the deal, I simply say, THE OIL, AND WE ARE BRINGING OUR SOLDIERS BACK HOME, ISIS SECURED!” he wrote.
Asked about the US’ shifting Syria strategy, Esper said the US mission has always been to prevent the resurgence of the IS.
However, Esper said at NATO that the US is “considering how we might reposition forces in the area in order to ensure we secure the oil field.”
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