{"id":231263,"date":"2023-03-13T12:00:47","date_gmt":"2023-03-13T12:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=231263"},"modified":"2023-03-11T04:44:56","modified_gmt":"2023-03-11T04:44:56","slug":"us-occupation-of-syria-will-continue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2023\/03\/us-occupation-of-syria-will-continue\/","title":{"rendered":"US Occupation of Syria Will Continue"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Syria\u2019s oil minister says the uninvited US and its allied Takfiri militants are plundering Syria’s crude oil reserves just like pirates.\u00a0 | Photo: Twitter @360CNN<\/p><\/div>\n

6 Mar 2023 – <\/em>The sudden unannounced arrival of the top US military officer General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, at a dusty American base in Syria\u2019s remote northeast on Friday may call to mind a famous quote by Dick Cheney, vice-president in the George W Bush presidency:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe good Lord didn\u2019t see fit to put oil and gas only where there are democratically elected regimes friendly to the United States. Occasionally we have to operate in places where, all considered, one would not normally choose to go. But we go where the business is.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

According to eyewitness accounts, as recently as last week, on 27 February, US troops transported at least 34 tankers filled with stolen Syrian oil through the illegal Al-Mahmoudiya border crossing to their bases in Iraq. In the estimation of the Syrian foreign ministry, the cumulative losses incurred by the country\u2019s oil and gas sector on account of theft and other US actions were to the tune of $107 billion as of August last year.<\/p>\n

Oil is a unique mineral that anaesthetises thought, blurs vision, corrupts. But according to a Reuters report<\/a>, Milley\u2019s visit was about something else than oil \u2014 \u00a0purportedly \u201cto assess efforts to prevent a resurgence\u201d of the Islamic State militant group and \u201creview safeguards for American forces against attacks, including from drones flown by Iran-backed militia.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, that is a stretch for two reasons \u2014 one, there are only around 900 US troops all in all in Syria and Milley doesn\u2019t have to undertake such routine mission; two, there is actually no history of the Islamic State [ISIS] having ever attacked the US forces in Syria.<\/p>\n

On the contrary, the folklore among regional states is that the US mentors the Islamic State, gives training to the cadres of the shadowy militant group at the remote American base at Al-Tanf on the Syrian-Iraqi border, and even provides logistical support to the group\u2019s operations in Syria\u2019s desert region.<\/p>\n

It is unclear whether Milley met with commanders of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces that have been the main ally of US forces in north-eastern Syria.<\/p>\n

One plausible explanation will be that Milley came on White House instructions against the backdrop of a legislation to end the US involvement in Syria<\/a> that will be up for a vote in the US Congress this week. US Congressman Matt Gaetz (Republican from Florida) who last month introduced a\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>War Powers Resolution to direct President Joe Biden to remove the US Armed Forces from Syria has frontally attacked Milley\u2019s visit.<\/p>\n

Gaetz said in a statement on Friday,<\/p>\n

\u201cIf General Milley wants this war so bad, he should explain what we are fighting for and why it is worth American treasure and blood. An America First foreign policy demands realism, rational thought, and seriousness.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

He pointed out that<\/p>\n

\u201cSyria is a quagmire of a tinderbox. America has no discernible interest in continuing to fund a fight where alliances shift faster than the desert sands.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But Milley is unfazed. Asked by reporters if he believed the Syria deployment is worth it, Milley said,<\/p>\n

\u201dI happen to think that\u2019s important.\u201d <\/em>Milley added, \u201cSo I think that an enduring defeat of ISIS and continuing to support our friends and allies in the region \u2026 I think those are important tasks that can be done.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Congressman Gaetz tabled the draft legislation following a press release<\/a> by the US Central Command on February 17 announcing that four service members were wounded during a helicopter raid in northeastern Syria when an explosion was triggered from the ground.<\/p>\n

The bottom line is that there is no rationale other than geopolitical considerations for the continued US occupation of about a third of Syrian territory. These considerations are principally:<\/p>\n