USremains 2019: Pentagon: U.S. Will Fight for Control of Oilfields in Syria Turkey says that Syrian Kurdish fighters have not fully withdrawn from a swath of northern Syria near the Turkish border. Under the terms of the Russian-brokered ceasefire, these Syrian Kurdish fighters are supposed to leave this area by today. Hundreds of thousands of civilians have already fled northern Syria after President Trump abruptly withdrew some U.S. troops from the area, clearing the way for the Turkish invasion. The United States is, however, continuing to station troops in Syria to guard oil fields. U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Monday the U.S. will respond with “overwhelming military force” to keep forces backed by Russia or Syria from taking control of these oil fields. On Sunday, President Trump said the United States is “protecting the oil.” cost UN Says Civil War Has Cost Syria $388B in Damage A United Nations agency says Syria's seven-year-long civil war has cost the country $388 billion in economic damage. The U.N. Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) says it estimates the cost of the material destruction — damage to roads, infrastructure, homes and other physical objects — is $120 billion. It says the cost of lost productivity — or losses to the country's gross domestic product (GDP) — is $268 billion. The agency convened a two-day conference in Beirut on of Syrian and international experts to discuss Syria's reconstruction on Tuesday and Wednesday. Monitoring groups say at least 400,000 people have been killed in Syria's civil war. More than 11 million others — or half of Syria's pre-war population — have been displaced from their homes, according to the U.N., including more than 5 million who have been made refugees abroad. President Bashar Assad's forces continue to press their battles against rebels and Islamic State group insurgents in pockets around northwest and south Syria while refusing a U.N.-mediated political settlement to end the war. crime Trump’s Syria ‘oil gambit’ is a crime, and what may be worse – a mistake US President Donald Trump’s baffling comments about keeping some troops in Syria to “secure the oil” suggest a confused, contradictory – and ultimately self-defeating – policy. Earlier this month, Trump appeared to have used the impending Turkish invasion to deftly cut the Gordian knot of US presence in Syria, citing it as a pretext for pulling out troops that weren’t supposed to be there to begin with – and had long since completed their mission in any case. He stood by that decision even as the Washington establishment shrieked about “betrayal” of allied Kurdish militias, and was vindicated when a deal worked out by Moscow and Ankara created a solution that benefited everyone – except those in the US still committed to regime change in Damascus, that is. oil US Needs To Occupy Syria Because Of Kurds Or Iran Or Chemical Weapons Or Oil Or Whatever President Trump reiterated to the press today that the United States is maintaining its military presence in Syria not to patrol the nation’s border with Turkey, but to control its oil fields. “We’ve kept the oil,” Trump said. “We’ve stayed back and kept the oil. Other people can patrol the border of Syria, frankly, and Turkey, let them — they’ve been fighting for a thousand years, let them do the border, we don’t want to do that. We want to bring our soldiers home. But we did leave soldiers because we’re keeping the oil. I like oil. We’re keeping the oil.” This open “kick their ass and take their gas” policy is nothing new for America’s reality TV president; he’s been saying it for years. It was recently addressed head-on by Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, who said during an interview that it’s nice to have a US president who is honest about America’s true motives in the Middle East for once. defence Trump Calls for Defense, Use of Syrian Oil Fields Experts say president's proposal would face formidable legal barriers, is unlikely to generate interest from partners it would need to succeed. By Michael R. Gordon and Timothy Puko Oct. 21, 2019 7:35 pm ET WASHINGTON—President Trump said that he is planning to keep a small number of troops in northeast Syria to protect the oil fields there and suggested that an American company might help the Syrian Kurds develop the oil for export. “I always said if you’re going in, keep the oil" Mr. Trump said."

endless Endless Occupation and Plunder of Syria By Stephen Lendman Global Research, October 29, 2019 Like his predecessors, Trump operates as a frontman for the military, industrial, security complex, Wall Street, and other monied interests. As commander-in-chief, he continues endless US wars of aggression in multiple theaters, along with economic terrorism on Iran, Venezuela, North Korea, Cuba, and other nations on the US target list for regime change — including China and Russia. His vow to bring all US troops home from Syria was a mirage. In March 2011, the US preemptively attacked the country for regime change, wanting pro-Western puppet rule replacing its sovereign independence. Illegal Pentagon/CIA occupation of northern and southern parts of the country continues with no near-term prospect for conflict resolution because dominant bipartisan hardliners in Washington reject restoration of peace and stability to all US war theaters. Longstanding US policy aims for dominion over planet earth, its resources and populations. protect Pentagon planning to send tanks, armored vehicles to Syrian oil fields WASHINGTON – The Pentagon is preparing to send tanks and armored vehicles to Syrian oil fields, according to a U.S. official – a stunning reversal of President Trump's decision to withdraw U.S. forces from the war-torn country after he declared victory over ISIS. The deployment of heavy armor to Syria would represent a significant escalation in the fight, requiring a contingent of additional troops to operate and maintain the vehicles, as well as forces to protect their bases. Earlier this month, Trump ordered that virtually all of the 1,000 U.S. troops be withdrawn from Syria, a move met with bipartisan condemnation as an abandonment of Kurdish allies in the fight against ISIS. Friday, Defense Secretary Mark Esper confirmed in remarks in Brussels that the Pentagon is planning to send armored vehicles to protect oil fields from ISIS. Esper said the new deployment "will include some mechanized forces." smuggle Russian Military Releases Satellite Images Confirming US Smuggling of Syrian Oil The Russian military described the US scheme as nothing less than "international state banditism." MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The Russian Defense Ministry published satellite intelligence images proving that oil from Syria was sent abroad under the guard of US servicemen before and after the defeat of the Daesh terrorists, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said Saturday. The ministry spokesman said that "the space intelligence images showed that oil was actively extracted and massively exported for processing outside Syria, under the reliable protection of US troops, before and after the defeat of the Daesh* terrorists." oops In Syria, militias armed by the Pentagon fight those armed by the CIA Syrian militias armed by different parts of the U.S. war machine have begun to fight each other on the plains between the besieged city of Aleppo and the Turkish border, highlighting how little control U.S. intelligence officers and military planners have over the groups they have financed and trained in the bitter five-year-old civil war. The fighting has intensified over the last two months, as CIA-armed units and Pentagon-armed ones have repeatedly shot at each other while maneuvering through contested territory on the northern outskirts of Aleppo, U.S. officials and rebel leaders have confirmed. In mid-February, a CIA-armed militia called Fursan al Haq, or Knights of Righteousness, was run out of the town of Marea, about 20 miles north of Aleppo, by Pentagon-backed Syrian Democratic Forces moving in from Kurdish-controlled areas to the east.