Some U.S. Troops May Remain In Northeast Syria To Protect Oil Fields
Other U.S. troops will pivot to fighting ISIS in Iraq rather than immediately heading home. Some 300,000 people have reportedly been displaced since Turkey's offensive began.
The U.S. may now keep some troops in northeast Syria, Defense Secretary Mark Esper said on Monday. It is the latest in a series of consequential pivots that the Trump administration has made in its Syria policy.
Esper said the troops are needed to secure oil fields from falling into the hands of. But most recently it was Russian mercenaries, not ISIS fighters, who tried to seize the oil fields and who were repulsed by U.S. airstrikes, NPR's Tom Bowman reports.
