MILITARY/OIL/SYRIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump’s decision to send troops to protect oil fields in Syria means the U.S. may have as many troops in the country — or potentially more — as when he took office, undermining his repeated pledge to end a ‘forever war’ in the Middle East. Commanders are now moving additional forces and armored vehicles into Syria’s war-torn, oil-rich Deir ez-Zor province. Some are being sent to reoccupy bases they abandoned just last week, after Trump abruptly ordered them to pull out from the area. That means the new total will likely exceed the 500 troops deployed to Syria back in January 2017, when Trump was sworn in.”
–Wesley Morgan, “Trump’s Syria pullout that isn’t,” Politico, October 31, 2019 5:03 am