So Trump has reversed course again and has now decided to keep some troops in Syria to protect the oil fields, which of course begs the question for whom and from whom. I don't think the US imports any oil from Syria. So much for bringing the boys home and letting the ME fight it out among themselves. Mendacity.
I agree, Frank. First thing I thought. Why are we there protecting oil? Whose oil is it anyway? I think some of the oil is in Iraq. But who cares? Let the Iraqi army protect it. If it's on Syrian lands, maybe it belongs to the Syrians in the first place and the Kurds are stealing it. So we're complicit in their theft. In any case, we're supposed to be policeman protecting oil? It's nuts! Frankly, it's just an excuse to keep troops there; an attempt to cool off the criticism of Trump because he pulled out.
Frankly, I smell "mission creep" like what happened in Vietnam. It started there under President Kennedy with just having a few military advisors to help the South Vietnamese army ward off the Communist North. Then with President Johnson, the Gulf of Tonkin, a phony conflict, and next thing we had 500,000 troops there, with 58,000 dead. Just on our side. If the Turks and Kurds go at it after the 5 day "pause", we could get drawn in. People will say to Trump - you have to help. Then we'll be sucked into another war, that Trump is trying to avoid. He should have stuck to his guns and stayed out.