No question US has established a permanent presence in Syria

The following study provides satellite photos of the bases in question and a brief description of each. I don't see in the published report on the study the phrase "people not that matter" that is featured in the report headline but yes, it's useless for Syrians to protest the American presence in their country because they really do not matter. 

At least 16 U.S. bases to secure Syria's oil fields, people 'not that matter'

By Fathi Bayoud, Editor-in-Chief 

September 22, 2019 - 15:07:16

Zaman Al Wasl

Foreign presence on the Syrian soil has always been the focus of media and research institutions. In this study, prepared by a specialized military researcher, we examine the changes that occurred with the existence of these bases, since late 2017 when Zaman al-Wasl last published a comprehensive study.

Over the past two years, 2018-2019, US bases (coalition forces) and other forces in Syria have undergone significant changes in one of the following areas:

• Establishing new bases that did not exist before.
• Expanding and consolidating some older bases.
• Definitive evacuation of certain bases.
• Moving some bases to different areas.

This report includes details of developments in the US bases in northern Syria, and in the area currently controlled by the US-backed Kurdish YPG militia, in light of Turkey’s desire to establish a safe zone within the Syrian border extending for tens of kilometers.

Turkey's urgent desire to establish a safe zone within Syrian borders will be hampered by the positions of these bases, some of which are only a few kilometers from the border, some of which have been built relatively recently. Therefore the American promise to Turkey to cooperate in establishing such an area is merely a political exercise to buy time.

In fact, these bases reveal that America is preparing for a long-term stay in Syria, and will not leave in the near future [despite what] President Donald Trump claimed recently.

It is worth mentioning that some of the new bases are not bases in the military sense, but more like "civil administration" centers.

Most of the major oil and gas fields currently have small bases of up to 50 US troops securing them.

The Locations of American Bases:

[...]

*********