Last week, during testimony to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo revealed that an American company, which he did not name at the time, had signed a contract with the Kurdish-dominated administration of eastern Syria for the rehabilitation of oil fields now occupied by U.S. troops. “The deal took a little longer, senator, than we had hoped and we’re now in implementation. It can be very powerful,” Pompeo said in reply to Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC). The Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad immediately denounced the deal as a violation of Syrian sovereignty and a theft of resources. The governments of Russia, Iran and Turkey have also denounced the deal as well.
Unnamed current and former Trump Administration officials basically confirmed to Foreign Policy that the U.S. is taking the oil for the Kurds in order to deny the revenues to Damascus. It also gives insight into the machinations behind the effort to keep U.S. troops in Syria despite Trump’s earlier intention to pull them out. “I think DOD and State can now make the argument to [President Donald] Trump that we have to stay and make sure the oil flows or the U.S. company will lose all their investment,” a former senior Trump Administration official told Foreign Policy. “So it’s a gift for those who want us to stay in Syria.”
