U.S. Deploys Bradley Fighting Vehicles to Guard Occupied Oil Fields in Northern Syria

The U.S. Central Command has ordered the deployment of M2A2 Bradley Fighting Vehicles and advanced Sentinel radar systems to northern Syria, where American units are currently stationed. The American military presence has increasingly been challenged by local Arab tribes and faced mass protests from the local population, and is in violation of international law as it lacks either an UN Security Council Mandate or permission from the government in Damascus. The primary goals of the deployment are both to deny the Syrian government access to its northern territories, and to extract oil from the resource rich region which are used to fund a number of Western-backed anti-government militias. President Trump summed up the purpose of the America military presence as follows: "We have troops guarding the oil, other than that we're out of Syria.” Denying the Syrian government access to oil revenues, combined with harsh Western economic sanctions on the country, have reportedly hindered reconstruction efforts as the nine-year conflict comes to an end. The deployment of U.S. forces has drawn significant condemnation internationally, and has been carried out in parallel to deployments of French and Turkish forces in northern Syria which have also directly violated international law. 

The Bradley fighting vehicle was initially considered a highly controversial design due to its unusually heavy weight, large armament and small troop carrying capacity for a dedicated transport. Modifications to the initial design in the late 1980s, however, made the platform far more viable and the Bradley subsequently saw export orders from Saudi Arabia and Lebanon. The platform began development during the Vietnam War and has been in service since 1981, with Cold War Europe being the primary theatre which the platform was designed to operate in. Bradleys primarily deploy 25mm chain guns and BGM-71 anti-tank missiles for combat, although lighter variants have also been developed to operate as scout vehicles. The vehicles make use of explosive reactive armour and spaced lamentine armour, which will provide some degree of protection against rocket propelled grenades that may be used by tribal forces in the region.