Tag: Syria

Biden Flexes US Muscle

In case anyone was worried that Biden would be a ‘peace’ president then yu may calm your tortured mind….

Biden has ordered his first military action….

President Biden ordered an airstrike in Syria on Thursday, after recent rocket attacks launched on US forces in Iraq. The target was a structure thought to be used for smuggling weapons by two Shia militias backed by Iran, CNN reports. The goal of the US attack was to hurt the militias’ capability of carrying out any more attacks, per Politico, though the site, in the eastern Syrian town of Al Bukamal, has not been tied to the rocket attacks. The Defense Department had not publicly blamed any Iran-backed militias. Last week, per ABC, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the US “reserves the right to respond in the time and manner of our choosing.”

The Pentagon said the strikes were specifically in response to an attack in Iraq that killed a civilian contractor and wounded a service member, per the AP. A Pentagon spokesman called the airstrike a “proportionate military response.” It was the first military action taken since Biden took office. “The operation sends an unambiguous message: President Biden will act to protect American and coalition personnel,” John Kirby said. “At the same time, we have acted in a deliberate manner that aims to deescalate the overall situation in eastern Syria and Iraq.” The airstrikes, which took place about 6pm ET, successfully “destroyed multiple facilities at a border control point used by a number of Iranian-backed militant groups,” Kirby added. Attacks by Shiite militia groups against US targets in Iraq decreased in the months before Biden became president.

After strike briefing the SecDef issued his statement….

“I’m confident in the target that we went after, we know what we hit,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told reporters Thursday after the US launched airstrikes in Syria, targeting facilities near the Iraqi border used by Iranian-backed militia groups. The Pentagon said the strikes, Biden’s first military action, were retaliation for a rocket attack in Iraq earlier this month that killed one civilian contractor and wounded a US service member and other coalition troops. An Iraqi militia official told the AP the strikes against the Kataeb Hezbollah, or Hezbollah Brigades, hit an area along the border between the Syrian site of Boukamal facing Qaim on the Iraqi side. Syria war monitoring groups said the strikes hit trucks moving weapons to a base for Iranian-backed militias in Boukamal.

The US has in the past targeted facilities in Syria belonging to Kataeb Hezbollah, which it has blamed for numerous attacks targeting US personnel and interests in Iraq. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based group that monitors the war in Syria, said 22 fighters from the Popular Mobilization Forces, an Iraqi umbrella group of mostly Shiite paramilitaries that includes Kataeb Hezbollah, were killed. The report could not be independently verified. Defense Secretary Austin said he was “confident” the US had hit back at the “the same Shia militants that conducted the strikes,” referring to the Feb. 15 rocket attack. Austin said he had recommended the action to Biden. “We said a number of times that we will respond on our timeline,” Austin said. “We wanted to be sure of the connectivity and we wanted to be sure that we had the right targets.”

There can be NO doubt that Biden is a Hawk….just as I predicted when he was elected.

This is just the beginning.

Some things never change.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Profiteering From War

Since 1979 and the fateful day when the Iranians took over the US embassy in Tehran there has been some sort of sanctions placed on the Iranian government.

Now we are placing sanctions on Syrians as well.

This time it is some guy that is a friend of Assad’s brother…..and he was targeted for war profiteering….

The Treasury Department imposed sanctions today on Syrian war profiteer Khodr Ali Taher and 11 of his companies – part of the fourth set of designations since the Caesar Act went into effect this past June. The targeting of Taher, a protégé of Bashar al-Assad’s younger brother Maher, is consistent with U.S. efforts to target the Assad family and its closest confidantes, especially the young entrepreneurs who have helped the regime take advantage of war-related business opportunities.

Taher rose to prominence after he began working with Syria’s 4th Armored Division, over which Maher al-Assad exercises control. The 4th Division’s security bureau, which handles its business affairs, began contracting with Taher in 2016 to protect its convoys. The firms Treasury sanctioned today include Castle Security and Protection LLC, which Taher founded in 2017 to manage his protection business. According to Treasury, the firm also operates lucrative checkpoints that collect fees from those crossing the front lines or the border with Lebanon.

Sanctions Target War Profiteer Working for Assad’s Brother

That was a report from a Neocon site…..now I ask what do you call Halleburton, et al?

I know free enterprise, right?

Does that not sound a bit hypocritical?

Now my question is…why is the US the only nation that can participate in free enterprise all others are war profiteers?

Those are rhetorical questions since I understand the concept of might makes right and the US tries to make its own rules.

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It Is All So Much Bullsh*t!

It is election time and Trump has gone on record as promising to end our endless wars…..he likes to call himself the “ender of endless wars”.

Sorry sports fans but it is idle bullsh*t…just election rhetoric that holds on truth…..

I wrote a piece recently about all these promises…..https://lobotero.com/2020/09/14/ender-of-endless-wars/

Nice rhetoric too bad it is so much bullsh*t……and now why would I make such a claim?

Trump may be moving troops around and out of Iraq and Afghanistan….but those are not the only wars we have going (in case you were unaware)……what a bout Syria?

Glad you asked!

The US is sending additional forces into Syria after a series of incidents between US and Russian troops in the country, according to three unnamed Pentagon officials speaking to NBC News. The force will consist of six Bradley Fighting Vehicles and fewer than 100 soldiers, who will be operating in northeast Syria on a 90-day deployment.

The US-led anti-ISIS coalition Operation Inherent Resolve said that the Bradley Fighting Vehicles arrived in eastern Syria on Friday.

The unnamed officials told NBC that the additional soldiers and vehicles will serve as a “show of presence” to discourage Russia from entering the eastern security zone where US forces and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces operate.

US troops have had multiple encounters with the Syrian government and Russia inside Syria throughout the year. Some of the more serious confrontations occurred last month.

One incident took place on August 17th at a Syrian army checkpoint and resulted in US attack helicopters firing on the position, killing at least one Syrian soldier. A few days after the checkpoint incident, US and Russian military vehicles collided, injuring at least seven US soldiers.

US commanders blame the encounters on Moscow and Damascus, but while the US maintains its presence in the country against the will of the Syrian government, confrontations are bound to happen. These additional forces will only make similar incidents more likely.

(antiwar.com)

These wars are not ending…..just a reallocation of troops to give the appearance of a cessation of hostilities.

Dear Mr. Trump…use your magic pen and end these goddamn wars!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

P.S.

Citing increased complexity in the US operation in Syria, the Pentagon has announced they will send a small contingent of mechanized infantry, and several Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicles back into NE Syria.

Officials are describing this as a “force protection” mission, and are linking it to an incident last month in which a US vehicle was side-swiped by a Russian vehicle. The US forces in Syria are confined to a small area, and officially they are there as part of a mission to take Syria’s oil.

There are currently an estimated 500 US troops in Syria, and this deployment will see an estimated 100 more troops sent to the country. Though media reports are calling this a show of force, it’s not clear that an extra 100 troops are going to mean that much in the grand scheme of things.

These troops will be moving in through Kuwait. Though the US presence in Syria is fairly small, even 100 additional troops could be quite expensive, and make this war for oil even less economical for the Trump Administration.

“Ender of Endless Wars My Ass!

Egypt–WTF?

As a foreign policy geek I am always looking for situations that are a problem to our policies…..

Using Open Source intel….I have found a problem with our foreign policy and as a geek in international situations this worries me.

The country is a strong ally to the US right? Has been since Saddat was the leader.

As a friend they are entitled to certain perks…..like aid from the US…..in 2020 to the tune of $297.9 in economic aid in 2020 and $1.55 billion in military aid.

That much cash should give the US some pull on the actions of our ‘friends’, right?

To take a different track here…..the US is NO friend of Assad of Syria, right?  As a matter of fact we are trying everything we can short of all out invasion to end Assad’s rule of Syria, right?

Then why is a ‘friend’ sending troops to Syria to help Assad?

Egypt has reportedly sent 150 soldiers to fight alongside Bashar al-Assad‘s regime in a planned operation against against rebel forces in northwestern Syria.

Turkey’s Anadolu news agency on Thursday quoted “reliable military sources” claiming that the soldiers have been sent to Aleppo and Idlib provinces, in coordination with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC),

Iran has been a key backer of the Syrian regime since an uprising against Assad’s rule started in March 2011, sending client militias from around the world such as the Afghan Fatemiyoun and the Lebanese Hezbollah.

The Egyptian troops have been deployed to the Khan Al-Asal area of western Aleppo province and around the town of Saraqeb in southern Idlib province, the agency reported.

Saraqeb was captured by the regime in late 2019 and is on the frontline between regime and rebel forces.

The Syrian news agency Shahed also reported a Syrian opposition military source as saying that “Egyptian mercenaries had arrived to fight alongside regime forces and sectarian militias in northern Syria”.

https://english.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2020/7/30/egypt-sends-troops-to-syria-to-fight-for-assad

Basically, our taxpayer money is inadvertently being used to prop up Assad in Syria.

Just another case for a program to upgrade our foreign policy….but sadly that will not happen any time soon…..

Not to worry though……Egypt will spend cash with Russia for fighter planes……

Russia Today quoted military sources July 27 as saying that the Egyptian army will acquire the Russian Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jet, a first for Egypt, after photos emerged of five of them heading to Egypt. Neither the Russian nor the Egyptian side has so far made any official comments on the alleged acquisition, while the United States objects to any such deals.

According to Russia Today, “The sources indicated that these heavy and long-range fighter jets would give the Egyptian army superiority in the regional sky, which is why the US strongly objected.”


Russia’s Top War website, which focuses on defense affairs, reported July 23 that the first batch of Su-35 fighters took off from the Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aviation Plant and headed to the European side of Russia, from where they will be delivered to Egypt.

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Our Syria Policy

That’s right there is still a major conflict going on in Syria….it has been push to Page 3 with all the pandemic and protests….but make no mistake it is still as volatile as ever.

And Trump is gonna use one of his favorite things in the whole world….sanction…..to punish Syria.

More specifically the Caesar Act….

The Caesar Act, passed in Congress last year, took effect on Wednesday. It seeks to pressure Syrian President Bashar al-Assad into negotiations with Washington, while preventing foreign allies from assisting the reconstruction of Syria’s devastated cities and economy. 

It targets the supporters of the Assad government in politics, business and banking. From Russia to Europe, the Gulf, Lebanon and beyond, the new sanctions may freeze assets and trigger travel bans and arrest warrants against violators.

All that is just good and well….but our policy is not as all that as the neocons pretend……

Washington is deliberately hindering Syria’s economic and physical reconstruction as it pursues regime change in Damascus. Until Assad makes significant political compromises to his opponents, abides by U.N. Security Council Resolutions weighted against his own government, or agrees to resign — demands he has shown no willingness to consider — U.S. sanctions will remain intact and may even tighten. The 83% of Syrians already living in poverty are effectively being punished for the barbarity, corruption, and ineptitude of their government.

In addition to utilizing the power of the U.S. financial system, the Trump administration is also dipping into the U.S. military toolkit. Officially, the American people are told, U.S. troops stationed in Eastern Syria are performing counterterrorism operations against ISIS. The reality, however, is hundreds of American military personnel are being used to block Damascus and Moscow from accessing Syria’s meager oil fields. The logic is fairly straightforward: If Assad is unable to access these fields and export oil again, the financial pressure eventually will force him to offer political concessions to his Syrian adversaries. 

https://www.realclearworld.com/2020/06/16/our_syria_policy_is_broken_496391.html

All this is just the wrong policy…but not according to the Neocons….they say more and stricter sanctions will help the Syrian people…..

The collapse of the lira brought with it rapid inflation. The United Nations’ World Food Programme estimated in April that the cost of a basket of basic goods such as flour and oil had increased by 111 percent over the previous 12 months. Already impoverished by the war and reliant on foreign aid, Syrians are increasingly going hungry, even in areas where Assad’s grip has long been firm. Restrictions put in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19 made the situation more dire, although the regime has begun to lift them. Last week, Assad fired Prime Minister Imad Khamis as public anger rose in areas under the regime’s control. The population of major urban centers seems resigned to Assad’s rule, but there have been unprecedented protests in the southern province of Suwayda, where demonstrators called for Assad’s ouster.

The deprivation Syrians were already enduring raises the perennial question of whether the sanctions will strike a balance between the pressure they exert on rogue regimes and the costs they inflict on civilians. In the case of Syria, the grisly evidence of systematic mass torture has minimized the extent to which elected officials on either side of the Atlantic have questioned the justice of sanctioning Assad and his accomplices. Still, there are a handful of analysts who equate the thinking behind the Caesar Act with the mentality of the Assad regime.

Sanctions Against Syria Will Help, Not Harm, Civilians

Once again the Neocons prove that their only concern is regime change and NOT the good of the Syrian people.

Slapping Assad on the pee-pee does nothing to help the Syrian people that are hungry without health care or any benefits…..

These sanction are effecting more than Syria….Lebanon’s economy is tied with Syria and theirs will collapse with the Syrian….

Syria is also in economic freefall and the value of its curency plummeting. Before the war began nine years ago, $1 was equivalent to around 50 Syrian Pounds. Today, the exchange rate has $1 trading at almost 3,000 Syrian pounds. 

The collapsed financial system has made Syrians more dependent on Lebanon’s banking system, but it is facing its own financial crisis. 

With interlinked economies, the prospect of Lebanese banks dropping Syrian businesses for fear of sanction penalties has sparked concerns that the Caesar Act may worsen the situation in both countries.  

For instance, without access to Lebanese banks, goods and trading partners, the average Syrian may have no other choice but to turn to those empowered in their own country, likely Assad’s allies. 

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/us-caesar-act-syria-maximum-pressure-campaign

Where does all this insanity stop?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Syria: 10 Year Anniversary

Ten years ago this month, 15 March, to be exact….Syrians took to the streets as part of what the media entitled the Arab Spring….Syrians were protesting for a better nation….little did the know that they had stared down a path that would bring about the destruction of “norm” for the nation.

Syria’s brutal conflict enters its 10th year Sunday with President Bashar al-Assad’s regime consolidating its hold over a war-wracked country with a decimated economy where foreign powers flex their muscle.

When Syrians took to the streets on March 15, 2011, they could scarcely have imagined their anti-government protests would turn into a complex war entangling rebels, jihadists and outside forces.

At least 384,000 people have since died, including more than 116,000 civilians, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said Saturday.

The conflict has displaced more than 11 million people internally and abroad.

https://www.afp.com/en/news/3954/syrias-brutal-war-enters-10th-year-doc-1pw2w46

When I worked in the Middle East I was stationed in Aleppo….an old city where the concept of the “coffeehouse” began…..today there is very little left to the city….nothing I could recognize.

A sad anniversary for Syria.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Why No Ceasefire For Syria?

Actually there is a short ceasefire around Idlib….but it has not expanded out from there.

We have managed to get a ceasefire with the Taleban in Afghanistan….then why cannot the US and others figure out a way to do the same for war torn Syria?

At least the UN is trying to find a solution….which is a good thing right?

Not if you are the US foreign policy makers!

The ceasefire in Syria’s Idlib Province took effect on Friday, and has been holding so far. With every other nation on board, the US blocked a joint UN statement backing the ceasefire, saying it was “premature” to do so.

The ceasefire was brokered by Turkey and Russia, and that’s almost certainly the problem from the US perspective. The US broadly refuses to back any Syria agreements Russia is involved in.

US officials had also been loudly backing Turkey’s military offensive in Idlib, and probably aren’t happy that Turkey has made a deal not to go to war. US officials weren’t super on board with directly participating in a Turkey-instigated war, but were only too happy to give lip-service to it.

Having the UN back a ceasefire, even if it is one not expected to necessarily survive, is usually the norm, though the US may find, in seeking backing for its Afghan deal, they may face similar resistance.

(antiwar.com)

God forbid that we could have a peace movement in the making….the M-IC will not allow it to spread much further than the ceasefire in Afghanistan.

The veto by the US at the UN illustrates just how much power these “captains of industry” have over our government and its policies.

Plus that silly idea of a “safe zone” is back…..it still will not work….

After six hours of talks on the Syria conflict last week in Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan came away with a deal. The Assad regime and the jihadist-dominated opposition in Idlib would follow a cease-fire, a buffer zone—jointly patrolled by Russian and Turkish forces—would be established to the north and south of the M-4 highway, and the frontlines would stabilize for the time being. The agreement is nothing but a band-aid, a pause in the Syrian army’s operations and a way to temporarily forestall a rush of another one million Syrian civilians into Turkey.

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/skeptics/syria-safe-zone-idea-back-and-it-still-wont-work-130942

Turkey’s Erdagon has demanded support for his adventurism in Syria from NATO, US and EU

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has demanded more support from his NATO and European Union allies over the war in Syria as fighting rages in Idlib, and a refugee crisis unfolds at the Turkish-Greek border. 

Erdogan flew to Brussels for talks with EU and NATO leaders after tensions rose over the fate of tens of thousands of refugees trying to enter EU-member Greece since Ankara said last month it would no longer try to keep them on its soil.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/03/erdogan-demands-concrete-support-eu-nato-syria-200309183710499.html

Is Erdagon trying to relive the old days of sultans and war.

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“lego ergo scribo”

Turkey Vs Syria

Turkey has invaded Northern Syria last month on the pretense of going after the Kurds…..and ever since the Syrians have been trading barbs with Turkey and now the new is not good…..

Fighting in Syria’s Idlib Province has escalated substantially on Thursday, with Turkish forces attacking the Syrian military, and claiming to have killed over 50 soldiers, and Russia ultimately sending in warplanes to stop the fight, warning Turkey away from continued action.

Turkish officials said Syria had killed two Turkish soldiers who were in Idlib to “establish peace” and that their attack was in retaliation. President Erdogan has threatened strikes anywhere in Turkey over injuries to soldiers.

Turkish-backed rebels were involved in the attacks, and supported by Turkish artillery strikes. Syria ultimately requested Russian help, and a Russian Su-24 launched some strikes against attacking forces. Russia also contacted Turkey and told them to stop shelling.

While this particular flare-up is over, fighting looks to just be getting started. Russia called the situation a “worst case scenario,” and has demanded that Turkey stop backing terrorist groups in Idlib. Turkey has vowed they will not leave Idlib to Syria, and reiterated demands that Syria unconditionally cede the province to the mostly al-Qaeda-led rebels therein.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says that a military operation in northwest Syria to expel Syrian forces from Idlib is only “a matter of time,” as Turkey continues to send more troops into the area.

Turkey has launched multiple attacks against the Syrian military in the past month, mostly to try to slow Syrian military advances against al-Qaeda. Erdogan has repeatedly demanded Syria abandon the Idlib Province to the Islamist groups, and now intends to try to directly force this.

Erdogan presented this new war as necessary because talks with Russia failed to get them to expel Syria from this Syrian province. Russia, however, is warning Turkey against trying to impose a military solution in northwest Syria.

Turkey is trying to present operations in support of al-Qaeda’s territorial control as a humanitarian necessity, and Syria’s fighting as endangering civilians.

(antiwar.com)

And since the US has troops in Syria watching the oil in Northern Syria….will they be drawn into any conflict between Syria and Turkey?

Will the Middle East become ground zero for yet another war?

The UN Charter’s preamble explained that “the scourge of war…twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind” — referring to two global wars.

Is a third one coming at a time when today’s super-weapons make earlier ones seem like toys by comparison? 

Will the curse of Middle East oil escalate new millennium wars? Oil is a strategic source of world power. Controlling it is a way to control nations.

Middle East countries have over half the world’s proved reserves. Regional resource wars aim to control them.

Preemptive US wars have nothing to do with protecting national security at a time when the nation’s only threats are invented, a phony pretext to smash one nation after another in the Middle East, Central Asia and North Africa, threatening others elsewhere.

The Middle East: Ground Zero for Possible Global War?

All I can say is….”here we go again”…….

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Turkey continues to step up fighting in northern Syria, running up against Russian forces, and giving the appearance of an imminent war in the Idlib Province. Turkey’s willingness to escalate seems to have been picked up by US encouragement, and now Turkey seems to be leading the call to get the US dragged into this conflict as well.

US interests in the Idlib Province are virtually non-existent. Any US-backed rebels that were once there have been wiped out, or aligned to some Islamist group long ago. Arguments for intervention are that Idlib is becoming a flashpoint between Russia and Turkey.

Which is more Turkey’s problem than America’s though Turkey is suggesting that they are in talks with the US on sending Patriot missiles to Idlib to contest Russian warplanes, and are requesting US warplanes start patrolling the areas around Idlib.

“lego ergo scribo”

Stuck in the Mud Of Interventionism

Sorry sports fans but all the efforts by the propaganda machine has made leaving Syria and the quagmire it has created virtually impossible.

I supported Trump’s plan to bring our troops home from Syria but the M-IC put all their assets to work and the plan changed.

There is one think tank that is doing what it is suppose to do…make the case for the Pentagon to stay and stay in Syria.

This is why I do not like or think think tanks are a good source for truth and facts…..they bend the findings of research to suit their benefactors desires….in other words they design their conclusion and then manipulate everything to suit that conclusion….the Syria situation is NO different.

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) released a report on November 21st titled “Russia’s Dead-End Diplomacy in Syria.” The report focuses on Russia’s role in supporting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and calls for the U.S. to maintain a presence in Syria.

The ISW presents itself as a “non-partisan, non-profit, public policy research organization.” In reality, the ISW is a neocon think tank funded by some of the country’s largest defense contractors. The ISW has a significant influence in Washington, and its chairman even has direct access to President Trump.

The report argues that Assad does not have the resources to regain and maintain control of the rest of Syria and that his victory would not bring stability. As far as Russia’s role, the report says, “The Kremlin seeks to thwart any Western effort to replace Assad and to instead reach a superficial political settlement that legitimizes his regime and neutralizes his opposition.”

The Think Tank Dedicated To Keeping the US in the Syria Quagmire

I admit that I do use the Institute for the Study of War from time to time……our foreign policy is tied to our use of conflict to settle differences so while I do not think the ISW is a good source it does serve its purposes.

Do not take a “think tank” white paper at face value….find out who funds them and you will know how accurate their findings are.

We are in Syria for the foreseeable future and for what?

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“Lego Ergo Scribo”

Syrian Oil Saga

Recently Trump move troops out of Syria just to redeploy them in Eastern Syria around the oil fields…..I wrote about what I thought about the idea of the US basically taken Syrian oil……https://lobotero.com/2019/11/05/syria-the-confusion-and-the-chaos/

I have not seen anything that would lead me believe that the US has the best motives about the Syrian oil….

Whether to control the oil or flat out take the oil, US statements on the new military mission in Syria are heavily oil-themed. Other reports, however, suggest that the operation is a lot more complicated than that.

In reality, a lot of the goal is nation-building, with US forces meant to both keep the Syrian government out of this part of Syria, and try to “bring prosperity” to the region, propping up a potential territory of rebels.

This is again built around the assumption that the US can manufacture an autonomous, prosperous region, using the oilfields as the revenue source, and then steer that region toward hostility with the rest of Syria.

This will likely end up being a plan easier for the Trump Administration to sell than overt theft of oil, as it allows the US to retain its primary focus, military hostility toward Syria with an eye toward eventual regime change.

To that end, the US keeps condemning Syria and Russia for airstrikes in the Idlib Province of northwestern Syria, and is demanding a full halt to strikes to resolve the situation through the UN. Ironically, the US has also opposed that UN reconciliation process, because it’s not going to end with regime change.

Pentagon officials are also pointing out that their military presence in Syria implies US military authority to open fire on Syrian government representatives if any of them try to reclaim control over the Syrian oilfields.

(antiwar.com)

I still say that the oil is that of Syria not the US and as such we should have NO voice in how it is used…..and yet the Pentagon says they have the right to order our troops to shoot on sight….no matter who……

Pentagon officials asserted Thursday U.S. military authority over Syrian oil fields because U.S. forces are acting under the goal of “protecting Americans from terrorist activity” and would be within their rights to shoot a representative of the Syrian government who attempted to retake control over that country’s national resource.

The comments came from Pentagon spokesperson Jonathan Hoffman and Navy Rear Admiral William D. Byrne Jr. during a press briefing in which the two men were asked repeatedly about the legal basis the U.S. is claiming to control Syrian oil fields.

The briefing came less than two weeks after Defense Secretary Mark Esper said, “That’s our mission, to secure the oil fields” in the Deir ez-Zor area of eastern Syria. President Donald Trump’s comments before and after that remark —”We’re going to be protecting [the oil], and we’ll be deciding what we’re going to do with it in the future,” and “The oil… can help us, because we should be able to take some”— were seized on by critics who claimed Trump was suggesting violating international law by plundering another country’s resources and openly saying the U.S. was pursuing war for oil.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/11/08/pentagon-claims-us-authority-shoot-any-syrian-govt-official-who-tries-take-control

I reiterate…..what gives the US the right to basically steal Syrian oil?

Apparently Trump decides and it is still the policy of this admin…..

Speaking during a visit with Turkey’s President Erdogan, President Trump sought the simplify the US role in Syria, saying Turkey’s issues over the border were thousands of years in the making.

“We’re keeping the oil, we have the oil, the oil is secure,” Trump insisted in comments, adding that “we kept troops in Syria only for the oil.” This is in keeping with Trump’s talking points of recent weeks, which emphasize the idea that the US is going to take Syria’s oil.

The insistence that the US is there “only for the oil,” however, is a critical point, because it runs directly contrary to every comment made by anyone else in the administration in recent weeks.

Pentagon officials have played up the idea of the US fighting with Syrian troops, Russian troops,and ISIS as reasons for staying in the country. Some have been dismissive of the idea that the US would be keeping the oil at all, despite President Trump very clearly, repeatedly saying that’s exactly what he intends to have happen.

(antiwar.com)

Is there a legal question that needs answering?

Following new meetings with defense leaders last week, President Trump has signaled intentions to expand his new war in Syria, which is a war entirely built around military control of oilfields in Eastern Syria from which he intends to extract oil.

All of this is raising ever-growing legal questions, both about what the legal ramifications of an overt war for oil would be, and about what the military is actually supposed to do in this environment, and against whom.

President Trump has so far side-stepped questions about the legality of taking other countries’ oil by arguing that it’s a lot of money the US could make every month in doing so. As far as military orders, those still haven’t been issued, and moreover officials concede a lot of details are “yet to be worked out.”

Despite lack of clarity on what they’re doing, why they’re doing it, and who it’s against, the US troops in Syria are doing something, and Kurdish YPG forces were also reported to have gotten involved, sending some troops of their own to help guard the oil fields.

The Kurds are reportedly helping the US guard the oil from ISIS, and while that’s a pretty straightforward mission for the Kurds, it’s a lot more complicated for the US, with a lot of the people the US is keeping away from the oil having nothing to do with ISIS.

Unspoken is that the US mission is to keep Syria’s oil away from Syria, and experts are being very clear that that notion is very illegal under international law. So far that doesn’t seem to be phasing officials, but anyone participating outside of US command is going to be trying to style this as about ISIS.

(antiwar.com)

I still do not see the legality of the US occupation of Syrian oilfields.

Not to worry the president will make it all much clearer…..

President Trump’s position on the Syrian War aims to further simplify matters. Turkey’s President Erdogan says he is worried about Turkey’s border with Syria, and President Trump sees an opportunity to contrast his own war, saying “we left troops behind only for the oil.”

In the context of US-Turkey relations, this seems very straightforward and avoids conflicts of interest. Admitting that the whole US war is for oil isn’t the panacea Trump thinks it is, however, and he’s running up against other US officials on this issue.

Lawmakers are couching the Syrian War as being about protecting the Kurds, while the Pentagon’s leadership sees it heavily built around fighting ISIS and continuing to work toward regime change in Syria. Some even suggest it’s about countering Russia.

Trump’s all-oil agenda directly contradicts everyone else, and gives the impression that the US is being deliberately evasive about its military agenda and where US foreign policy is going.

Trump’s comments may simply reflect his agenda and what he cares about in Syria, just the oil. At the same time, other top officials plainly see the legal complications to overtly looting oil during a military occupation, and are downplaying that matter hoping nothing ever comes of it, or that at the very least they can avoid culpability by making their role in the war something else.

(antiwar.com)

I am so glad it has been cleared up….how about you?

I Read, I Wrote, You Know

“Lego ergo Scribo”