syria which happens to have some oil fields. sos not a considered policy. these are spasms. and to stay in syria just to protect an oil field, that might be one of the purposes. but to say that out loud raises very serious questions. >> bloomberg is writing about it this well. the president has mentioned multiple times the idea that troops would stay there to protect oil fields. where is that coming from? >> first of all, it's illegal. i know this issue pretty well. we cannot exploit the oil. the oil has to be smuggled because we can't legally sell it. so you want to protect the fields to make sure that isis doesn't get at it. but as we collapse our entire position in northeast syria and lose support of the population, to keep a couple hundred troops in a corner of syria to do what? for what purpose? for what mission? how will they be sustained? how will they be supplied? these are serious questions. and most administrations you would have a national security process. these are questions of war and