Trump might leave 500 troops in Syria, send in tanks, to guard oil fields

Oil fields in Syria
(Image credit: Youssef Karwashan/AFP/Getty Images)

President Trump is considering leaving about 500 U.S. troops in Syria and sending in dozens of battle tanks and other military equipment to help guard oil fields currently held by Kurdish forces, The Wall Street Journal reports. "The evolving plan underscores the ongoing security threats in Syria and, potentially, White House sensitivity to a congressional rebuke," The Washington Post adds. "It also highlights that the U.S. mission appears to be shifting from one focused on fighting the Islamic State to at least partly keeping the country's own government from possessing all its oil fields."

Trump tweeted Thursday that "we will NEVER let a reconstituted ISIS have those fields!" But Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) said after a small White House briefing that "we will leave troops there to make sure that Iran does not, Russia doesn't get, Assad doesn't get those oil wells."

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.