Centcom Chief: US Anti-ISIS Operations to Resume in Coming Weeks

Gen. McKenzie: About 500 US troops remain in Syria


The US military continues to try to present the war in Syria as being about something other than oil. On Saturday, Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, the chief of Centcom, said that the US expects to resume anti-ISIS operations in the coming days or weeks.

McKenzie told reporters in Bahrain that the US has about 500 troops in northeastern Syria, and intends to continue to work with the Kurdish SDF in fighting against ISIS, in areas where ISIS is believed to be present.

Pentagon officials have tried to present fighting ISIS as an ongoing goal, though President Trump has repeatedly said that the US military presence in Syria is now exclusively about controlling and ultimately extracting Syrian oil.

500 US troops are unlikely to be able to extend their military goals beyond being roughly at the Syrian oil. The ability to project US fighters out of that area is unclear, and with it unclear where ISIS fighters are at this point, it’s unlikely the US will even attempt a new offensive.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.