Inside US troops' stronghold in Syria, a question of how long Biden will keep them there grandforksherald.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from grandforksherald.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
KHSHAM, Syria
At a makeshift military outpost abutting a natural gas field in eastern Syria, the signs of the country’s violent upheaval are everywhere. Bombed-out concrete buildings lie in ruins. The pipes that once carried liquefied natural gas are shredded and twisted.
A tattered U.S. flag strung between 40-foot-tall gas processing towers flies high over the base, a visible symbol that American troops are here and not planning on leaving soon.
“We’ve got the flagpole planted,” said Army Lt. Alan Favalora, a Louisiana National Guard soldier at Conoco, the name the base acquired from the long- departed U.S. oil and gas firm that once operated the wells. “We want them to know we are committed to this region.”
White House officials have said they are reviewing the troop presence in Syria — an announcement that has raised concerns that President Joe Biden could reconsider the deployment as part of a larger scaling back of U.S. troops in the Middle East.