Syria’s UN Ambassador Bashar al-Jaafari has once again denounced sanctions imposed on his country by the United States and the European Union, saying the bans are harming the Syrian people.
Jaafari told a Security Council session on Monday that foreign-backed Takfiri terrorists and the sanctions imposed by the US and the EU are inflicting suffering on the Syrian people.
On May 28, the EU extended its restrictive measures against the Damascus government until June 1, 2019. The sanctions currently in place against Syria include an oil embargo, restrictions on certain investments and a freeze of the assets of the Syrian central bank held in the EU. The EU bans are also in place on dozens of companies linked to the Syrian government.
Because of the bans, the US and the EU lack moral and ethical standards while dealing with today’s crises, particularly in the universal war against terrorism. But why should the US be willing to embark on such measures that end up in supporting Al-Qaeda and its offshoots like Nusra Front in Syria? It is not as strange as it may seem:
The US-led war on Syria has admittedly required Washington to partner up with “moderate militants” in pursuit of its colonial and aggressive foreign policy goals, including partitioning Syria and protecting Israel. But the war has produced too much evidence to keep the myth of "moderate militants" alive, even for pro-US experts and media. Though completely clear and globally condemned, this de facto alliance with terrorists and extremist groups, even ISIL, is necessary to facilitate the more long-term goals in the Middle East. This includes regime change in Iran.
That explains why the US is turning a blind eye to Al-Qaeda and ISIL and their crimes, and why President Trump says there will be no arms sales ban for Saudi Arabia despite the fact that its rulers were behind the grisly murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2.
As for Syria, and more specifically for the Idlib province, it suffices to state that according to President Trump’s Special Envoy to fight ISIL, “Idlib province is the largest Al-Qaeda safe haven since 9/11.”
US officials – including President Trump himself – keep warning the Syrian government not to re-take its own territory from Al-Qaeda control because if Idlib is re-taken by the Syrian army, Wasington or more specifically the Pentagon loses its major foothold in the country, meaning that the American, Saudi and Israeli dream of “regime change” for Syria will be buried altogether and that will be the last and probably most effective ring in the chain of victories of Syria and its allies, Iran and Russia, in burying the US scheme for Syria.
One of the last groups of ISIL fighters in Syria is around the Al-Tanf US military base which has operated illegally in Southeastern Syria - that is assessed as a strategic juncture at Syria's border with Iraq and Jordan - for the past two years. The US has no permission from the Syrian government to be there. Anytime Russia warns the US military in the region that it is about to launch an assault on ISIL fighters around the illegal US base, the US responds by sending in Marines and conducting live-fire exercises as a warning.
The US is occupying the region while it has turned a blind eye to ISIL and Al-Qaeda in the neighborhood as it helps to prolong the bloodshed, justify occupation, and protect Israel. Syria, Russia and Iran have been protesting at the US for allowing ISIL terrorists to operate in the region freely. The US has warned that it has imposed a no fly zone in the region on the pretext of protecting its military, but this has provided the ISIL with free movement without any worries about Syria and Russian air power.
The base that is also used by the US military troops to train Syrian anti-government militants is adjacent to The Rukban refugee camp, which now hosts about 50,000-60,000 people, at Al-Tanf district (Homs province) near the Jordanian border. The US has been hindering the delivery of UN humanitarian assistance to the area, while tens of thousands of refugees are dying of hunger. UN Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Mark Lowcock said on Monday the United Nations is prepared to immediately send a humanitarian convoy to the al-Rukban camp once safe conditions for its passage can be ensured.
"The UN is ready and willing to proceed with the convoy immediately," Lowcock said, just days after a planned aid delivery was delayed due for security reasons. "Please, make the necessary arrangements to ensure the security of the humanitarian personnel and the accompanying convoy so it can proceed without delay".
Lowcock also said reports of insecurity along the planned delivery route had forced the UN and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent to postpone plans to deliver the aid on Saturday. Initially, UN, humanitarian workers along with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, had planned to deliver aid to some 50,000 people, begin a vaccination campaign for around 10,000 children and conduct a rapid needs assessment during their visit to the camp, Lowcock stressed.
US troops are protecting ISIL and starving tens of thousands of people at Al-Tanf to admittedly train anti-government forces in quest for its regime change fantasies in Syria. Yet, this is not the only case of Washington's detrimental and lethal presence in the country. The United States' military forces have established a much wider presence along Eastern Syria to the North-East.
The same foreign policy game is being played in Yemen. The US-backed, Saudi-led war on the impoverished nation is benefiting Al-Qaeda. Washington and its allies have been fighting the Ansarullah (Houthi) movement that has been the only force fighting the Al-Qaeda terrorists in the country, while the Saudi-backed militants of Mansour Hadi have admittedly been working with Al-Qaeda in a number of regions to fight off Ansarullah popular movement. Again, the US helps Al-Qaeda in Yemen to prolong the war, justify occupation, protect Israel and Saudi Arabia, plunder Yemen’s energy resources, and fight the Iranian influence in the Peninsula.
Long story short, the United States and its regional allies are aiding ISIL and Al-Qaeda, which did attack the West and the region. But they justify such deadly ignorance on the pretext of containing Iran in the region - a country that hasn’t attacked its neighbors for more than two hundred years and is at the forefront of the war on terror in Syria.
Meaning, the US-led warmongers are supporting various terrorist groups for their regime change fantasies, and under international law they are complicit in war crimes and crimes committed against humanity by their terror proxies or due to their direct and indirect protection and support for internationally recognized terrorist groups.
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