U.S. 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 Mr. Trump and his defence leaders, locks hundreds of U.S. troops into a more complicated presence in Syria, despite the President’s vow to get the United States out of the war. Under the new plan, troops would protect a large swath of land controlled by Syrian Kurdish fighters that stretches nearly 150 kilometres from Deir el-Zour to al-Hassakeh, but its exact size is still being determined. […]
Senator Tim Kaine, a Virginia Democrat, called the mission misguided. “Risking the lives of our troops to guard oil rigs in eastern Syria is not only reckless, it’s not legally authorized,” Mr. Kaine told the Associated Press. “President Trump betrayed our Kurdish allies that have fought alongside American soldiers in the fight to secure a future without ISIS – and instead moved our troops to protect oil rigs.” Läs artikel