Pentagon chief: 'Mechanized forces' to protect Syrian oil fields

Does a great country let its allies be slaughtered but defend foreign oil fields?

https://thehill.com/policy/defense/467492-pentagon-chief-mechanized-forces-to-protect-syrian-oil-fields

By Ellen Mitchell - 10/25/19 02:24 PM EDT

Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Friday confirmed that the United States will send some “mechanized” reinforcements into eastern Syria to protect against possible attacks by ISIS fighters on oil fields held by U.S. partner forces.

“The United States will maintain a reduced presence in Syria to deny ISIS access to oil revenue as we reposition for the next phase of the defeat ISIS campaign,” Esper said at a NATO defense meeting in Brussels.

Esper said that the military is “considering how we might reposition forces in the area in order to ensure we secure the oil field,” currently held by Syrian Kurdish fighters, and is working to “strengthen our position” at Deir Ezzoir. He added that the reinforcements “will include some mechanized forces.”

He would not go into details as to the number of troops to be sent, but a mechanized force would likely include tanks and other combat vehicles and several hundred more military personnel. The U.S. presence in Syria up until this point has not included such equipment.

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