US Company Signs Deal for Syrian Oil

Still at War: The United States in Syria

Since 2014, the United States has conducted periodic airstrikes and maintained hundreds of troops in Syria as part of broader counterterrorism efforts against the self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS) and al-Qaeda (AQ). The legal justification for these counterterrorism wars, which rested on shaky grounds from the start, has become more tenuous as the conflicts have shifted, with IS’ territorial defeat in both Syria and Iraq and new actors having entered the fray. Most notably, the conflict has expanded to include U.S. hostilities against Iranian-backed militia groups supporting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s embattled regime, without explicit congressional authorization or any clear military objective beyond deterring future attacks. Instead, the United States and these militia groups have devolved into a cycle of “tit-for-tat” strikes. The U.S. military footprint in northeastern Syria, alongside sporadic strikes against IS in the country, risks bringing the United States into direct military confrontation with pro-Assad forces, including Iran and potentially Russia. In light of these risks, it is crucial to reconsider U.S. strategic objectives in Syria, the legal basis for the use of force there, and whether U.S. military operations within Syria are the best means of meeting U.S. goals...

U.S. to allow foreign investment in northeast Syria without sanctions

The United States will allow some foreign investment in areas of northeast Syria outside government control without coming under sanctions, it said on Wednesday, a move it says is aimed at helping a region previously controlled by Islamic State. Speaking in Marrakech at a meeting of the global coalition against Islamic State, U.S. acting assistant secretary of state Victoria Nuland said Washington would issue a general licence, which frees companies from U.S. sanctions restrictions... However, a diplomat who has discussed the issue extensively with U.S. officials said the licence would apply to agriculture and reconstruction work, but not to oil...

Turkey's Erdogan threatens new incursion into Syria

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened Monday to launch a new military operation in Syria to secure Turkey's southern border. Speaking following a Cabinet meeting, Erdogan said the aim of the operation would be resume Turkish efforts to create a 30-kilometer (20 mile) safe zone along its border with Syria. “We will soon take new steps regarding the incomplete portions of the project we started on the 30-km deep safe zone we established along our southern border,” Erdogan said...

U.S.-backed Syrian force warns against new Turkish attack, Russia alarmed

The U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said on Thursday a new offensive threatened by Turkey in northern Syria would create a humanitarian crisis and undermine its campaign against the Islamic State group. SDF commander Mazloum Abdi called on all sides to "prevent any new tragedies and support de-escalation", warning that a new assault would fuel yet more displacement in Syria's 11-year-long conflict...

Russia urges Turkey not to launch offensive in northern Syria

Russia urged Turkey not to launch an offensive in northern Syria after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan renewed threats of a military campaign targeting Kurdish “terrorists”. “We hope that Ankara will refrain from actions that could lead to a dangerous deterioration of the already difficult situation in Syria,” Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement on Thursday...

U.S. investigates whether service member staged insider attack in Syria

The U.S. military is investigating whether an attack at a base in Syria was conducted by an American service member, defense officials said Monday.

Military officials initially said the April 7 incident, which wounded four U.S. troops, was a result of indirect fire on the facility known as Green Village in eastern Syria, indicating they believed it to be a mortar or rocket strike. A week later, officials clarified that statement, describing the attack instead as a “deliberate placement of explosive charges by an unidentified individual(s) at an ammunition holding area and shower facility.”

“A possible suspect, a U.S. service member, has been identified,” the Pentagon said in a statement, adding that Army and Air Force criminal investigators have launched a joint investigation. “At this point, these are just allegations, all suspects are presumed to be innocent until/unless convicted in a court of law”...

U.S. Reviews Israel's Plans for Syria Strikes

Israel secretly coordinates with the U.S. on many of the airstrikes it carries out in Syria as the allies face a battlefield crowded with militant groups, Iranian-backed militias and foreign militaries, current and former U.S. officials said. U.S. officials have said little about Israel's bombing missions, which have been aimed at interrupting Tehran's flow of advanced weapons to Lebanese Hezbollah and diminishing Iran's military forces and proxies in Syria. Behind the scenes, however, senior officials at U.S. Central Command and at the Pentagon for several years have reviewed in advance many of Israel's missions for approval, current and former officials said...