[Ed. – Basically, instead of the single pivot point down southeast of Deir-ez-Zor, it looks like U.S. forces will be assigned to a swath of oilfield land running from Deir-ez-Zor to Al-Hasakah. The purpose would be at least partly to keep Iran from getting hold of it. Also partly to keep Assad, Russia, and Turkey from jockeying for it. It’s a stability move, tethered to the oilfield-protection mission presumably because that’s about the least politically-partisan – i.e., locally aligned — premise for deploying armed force. It’s also obvious that Trump doesn’t want regional factions fighting over the oil. As with everything in this evolving scenario, we’ll see what happens.]
President Donald Trump has approved an expanded military mission to secure an expanse of oil fields across eastern Syria, raising a number of difficult legal questions about whether U.S. troops can launch strikes against Syrian, Russian or other forces if they threaten the oil, U.S. officials said.
The decision, coming after a meeting Friday between Trump and his defense leaders, locks hundreds of U.S. troops into a more complicated presence in Syria, despite the president’s vow to get America out of the war. Under the new plan, troops would protect a large swath of land controlled by Syrian Kurdish fighters that stretches nearly 90 miles (150 kilometers) from Deir el-Zour to al-Hassakeh, but its exact size is still being determined.
Officials said many details still have to be worked out. But, Trump’s decision hands commanders a victory in their push to remain in the country to prevent any resurgence of the Islamic State group, counter Iran and partner with the Kurds, who battled IS alongside the U.S. for several years.
