- US occupying forces in northern Syria are continuing to plunder natural resources and farmland, a practice ongoing since 2011
- Recently, US troops smuggled dozens of tanker trucks loaded with Syrian crude oil to their bases in Iraq.
- The fuel and convoys of Syrian wheat were transported through the illegal settlement of Mahmoudia.
- Witnesses report a caravan of 69 tankers loaded with oil and 45 with wheat stolen from silos in Yarubieh city.
- Similar acts of looting occurred on the 19th of the month in the city of Hasakeh, where 45 tankers of Syrian oil were taken out by US forces.
- Prior to the war and US invasion, Syria produced over 380 thousand barrels of crude oil per day, but this has drastically reduced to only 15 thousand barrels per day.
- The country’s oil production now covers only five percent of its needs, with the remaining 95 percent imported amidst difficulties due to the US blockade.
- The US and EU blockade prevents the entry of medicines, food, supplies, and impedes technological and industrial development in Syria.
I’m not saying it’s legitimate or illegitimate and, yeah, there are US assets (likely other countries too but they ‘need’ more discretion) in Syria. Not just ‘force projection’ but troops on ground, patrolling with the SDF.
So, yeah, you’re not wrong but US assets are supporting SDF assets who are keeping detained ISIL under lock and key and, when they get uppity, hellfire missile.
But, at the end of the day, The Syrian Government could simply roll out into the country and take back the oil fields from the Kurds that everyone in the region loves to oppress and ship it out themselves. I’m against Iraqi oppression of the Kurds. I’m against Turkish oppression of the Kurds. Guess what? I’m also against Syrian oppression of the Kurds. If that makes me a US (and Coalition by proxy) shill then by all means, think me a shill. The Kurds have held their lands since the beginning of written history but you think that the Syrian Dictatorships of the last fifty years have more right to that land then go off, friend.
Yeah I am not going to excuse a US occupation with ISIS as pretext when it was the US that sponsored ISIS’ creation.
I’m completely lost about your last paragraph. It sounds like you’re assuming I have some stances that I do not. I support Kurdish autonomy and independence. Tying that into letting more people in non-US-occupied regions fight for a drop of heating or cooking oil is ridiculous. It doesn’t have to be one or the other.
Turkyie doesn’t like the Kurds, maybe for a good reason in their eyes. Syria doesn’t like the Kurds and again they probably think that’s a good idea too. Iraq gives them autonomy but that’s who knows what will happen if Sadr continues to expand Iranian influence.
The US has on multiple occasions used the Kurds and left them out to dry, so they’re not some blameless paragon, but they didn’t at Al Sina’a and they continue to keep food shipments moving in despite Russian aggression raising the price of wheat and Syrian shelling the White Helmets.
There’s no angels but at least the US isn’t bombing whole towns for the crime of being “rebel held”. They keep their collateral down to whomever might be standing near their targets…
Or, in the case of their Task Force 9, merely precision bomb their civilian targets.
I think we can both agree that US actions in the region have been abhorrent. Though, the Coalition at least attempts to maintain an air of legitimacy (and aid funding) and the Kurds by and large don’t have many other friends.
There’s literally no good reason
The US coalition’s bombings has been far more cruel than even the Syrian regime and ISIS. Just compare the size of the destruction, the number of destroyed buildings between the liberation of Raqqa vs the battle of Aleppo. Despite Aleppo being a much bigger city, and the fight being far more fierce, Raqqa had far more destruction and was raised to the ground.
I agree with you that the SDF does not have many friends, and I support them in milking as much US aid as they can. But selling off the oil when most Syrians are struggling for a drop of oil is cruel, and we should not accept this.
What kinship do the Kurds owe Aleppo when they would hand their lands over to Russia? They can sell it to the Americans or they can sell it to the Regime who bombs them, who’d rather they be bombed out to make room for their Russian Allies. Not much choice for them.
If Assad, because I don’t blame the Syrian people as a whole, recognized Kurdish autonomy they could begin to move towards unifying in the people’s best interest instead of scraping what little they can through bad deals. Instead, the Assad Government is ready to move the Kurds out of their lands to hand them over to Russian companies. The people of Syria don’t really get the oil either way - the people do struggle for US benefit but Assad is not a heroic revolutionary fighting for the people either. A free Rojava would be the first step in removing the US yoke but it would also remove the Syrian one.
When did the people of Aleppo hand over land to Russia? You do realize the SDF collaborated with Russia and even hosts a Russian military base?
Also, the Assad government, despite all its horrors and corruption, actually cooperates with the SDF on a moderate level. There is already some trade between the two, and they fought side by side on a few occasions.