Remaining U.S. troops in Syria not an obstacle to SDF, Russia and Damascus alliance – U.S. Colonel

Al-Malikiyah (Derik) - US patrol in the Syrian-Turkish borders and oil field areas

Washington – North-Press Agency
Hadeel Oweiss

The US National Defense Institute Colonel David De Roche said in a special statement to North-Press: "The main reason the US troops remaining in Syria is the strong criticism of Trump administration by the Democratic and Republican parties and the criticism of his popular base”. He also stressed that the alliance between the SDF, Russia and Damascus will continue for several reasons.

De Roche told North-Press that the survival strategy to protect the oil is an excuse to keep some troops on the Syrian ground in the face of the possibility of a great escalation that could politically harm Trump administration, especially since a significant part of his supporters are disturbed by his policy in Syria. So it's to keep an American ability and a margin to move within the face of any dramatic or unexpected events.

He added that Trump finds through this strategy an excuse to convince his supporters to stay in Syria, telling them that we stay for oil and we will benefit, "even though the United States will not benefit from anything from the Syrian oil that it does not need absolutely", de Roche said.

He said that this strategy satisfies a political class that wants to help the SDF and maintain the relationship with it, such as the Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, by giving the resources of this oil to the SDF in an attempt to maintain the relationship with it, and the possibility of coordination in the fight against terrorism.

Regarding negotiating with Russia and the Syrian government, de Roche said the current US presence is not an obstacle for the SDF to forge alliances with Russia and Damascus.

This is because Russia has entered Syria through a message that the Western world cannot stand against, which is fighting the Sunni jihadist extremism that the whole world wants to defeat. In the same vein, no one will be able to stand up to any possible alliance between the SDF with Russia and the Syrian government for the same reason that Russia came to eliminate the radical Sunni jihadism.