“Our protection of oil is for the benefit of SDF, we continue to fight extremism with them” – Sen. Lindsey Graham

The strategy of “staying to protect oil” is even more evident with the death of the Islamic State group’s leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, where the United States President Donald Trump, in announcing the death of the group’s leader, said that the United States will now remain in Syria to “protect oil” as justifying the importance of oil by several reasons, the first of which was financing ISIS, second, because it would help the Kurds, and third, because the United States would be able to take some of it. He added: “We are considering a deal for ExxonMobil, or one of the largest U.S. companies which invest in oil, to turn it into wealth.”

Senator Lindsay Graham, in a speech at the White House following President Trump’s speech, has explained the dimensions of the “oil strategy”: “The U.S. companies can now run Syrian oil and this will not be considered a breach of American sanctions on Syria, where oil will be under Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), of Arabs and Kurds, as the latter make up the majority. This is a new foreign policy that changes the rules of the game.”
Furthermore, he added that the new strategy in Syria is embodied in securing the oil, “by taking it from ISIS and putting it in the hands of our Kurdish allies who fought ISIS for us.”

Sen. Lindsey Graham said that sending U.S. troops now with the SDF to protect oil is a change to the rules of engagement, as this will enable us to continue our partnership with the Kurds by giving them oil and operating it through U.S. companies, and thus, oil revenues will be for the Kurds where “extremists of the Islamic State and Iran” will be deprived of it.

“I feel much more comfortable with our strategy in Syria,” Sen. Graham said, after adjusting the strategy by president Trump to keep troops to protect the oil areas and the SDF.
“Al-Baghdadi’s death does not mean the end of the war with the Islamic countries, and President Trump understands this, he changed the strategy in Syria therefore,” he added.

Moreover, Sen. Linsey Graham said to reporters: “We are not in positions of Syrian oil to enrich the United States, this oil is the right of the SDF and is in areas liberated by them, with the Kurdish majority in coordination with the United States, it’s not about taking oil from Syrian territories, rather, benefiting the SDF, who will get more resources under the U.S. running of oil areas.

While the Former U.S. Army Commander John M. “Jack” Keane said that after his strong opposition to President Trump’s decision to withdraw from Syria, the U.S. scene in Syria has become better while remaining in oil areas, as it will maintain a close and fruitful relationship with partners among the SDF.

“70% of all Syrian oil now is under the control of the United States and the SDF, and all airspace in this area will be under the control of the United States, and Russia will protect the Kurds in the northern regions of Syria, as the United States will seek a permanent ceasefire.”

The retired General Keane said that “there are now thousands of displaced Kurds, who are now in the oil-control areas after the Turkish military operation, where the United States will take on the responsibility of protecting these areas and provide military and humanitarian support.”