US President Donald Trump has promised his voters to "bring soldiers home" from the "endless war" in Syria. But this is not easy to do. While Trump has ordered the partial withdrawal of some 1,000 American soldiers from Syrian territory who have illegally occupied it, the government admits that many soldiers remained there. And they stayed not to protect the population, but to keep the oil and gas fields in their hands. US forces killed several hundred Syrians, and probably several Russians, to continue plundering Syrian oil.
Washington's obsession with overthrowing the Syrian government continues unabated. The US is reluctant to give Syria its oil and fertile areas to deprive the government of revenue and hinder the country's reconstruction. In 2018, the Washington Post wrote that the United States and its Kurdish partners are occupying "30% of Syria, where 90% of oil was probably produced before the war." Now, for the first time, Trump has openly confirmed the imperialist motives for continuing the military occupation of Syria.
Trump said at a government meeting on October 21. "Maybe we'll have one of the biggest oil companies to come in and do it right." Three days earlier, Trump tweeted about “protecting the oil”: “I just spoke with Turkish President Erdogan. He told me that there was minor sniper and mortar fire that was quickly eliminated. He really wants the truce or pause to work. Likewise, this is what the Kurds want and the final decision is to happen. It is a pity that he was not there. This was conceived many years ago. Instead, there were only weak patches, and artificial ones. There is goodwill on both sides and a good chance of success. The US is protecting the oil, and the Kurds and Turks are involved in ISIS."
The New York Times confirmed this strategy on October 20. Citing a "senior administration official," the newspaper wrote: "President Trump is leaning in favor of a new Pentagon plan to retain a small contingent of American troops in eastern Syria, perhaps around 200, to fight the Islamic State and block the advance of the Syrian government and Russian forces into the region. containing oil fields. A side benefit will be helping the Kurds maintain control over the fields in the east.”
Trump then directly confirmed this policy during a press conference at the White House on October 23rd. “We have protected the oil, and therefore a small number of American soldiers will remain in the area where they have oil,” he said. “And we will protect her. And we will decide what to do with it in the future."
Using ISIS to Justify the Occupation of Syrian Oil Fields
At a press conference on October 21, US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, a former vice president of government relations with the main arms manufacturer, Raytheon Corporation, said: “Our troops are located in the cities of northeastern Syria, which are located near the oil fields. The troops in these cities are not subject to the current withdrawal. Our troops will remain in the cities near the oil fields."
Esper added that the US Air Force "is conducting combat air patrols of all our forces on Syrian soil." Unlike Trump, Esper tried to justify the US military occupation of the Syrian oil fields. He said American soldiers remain there to help the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) hold resources amid the threat of ISIS jihadist attacks. Central corporate media such as CNN said, "The Secretary of Defense says several US soldiers are temporarily staying in Syria to protect the oil fields from ISIS."
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But any observer, having read Esper's statement, could determine the real goal of the continuation of the American occupation of Syrian land. Esper himself admitted: "The purpose of these forces, working with the SDF, is to block access to these oil fields by ISIS and others that can benefit from the revenues that can be obtained from this oil." These "others" are the deciding factor. In fact, Esper has used the phrase "ISIS and others" several times. Who exactly did he mean by the word "others" - it is clear that the US strategy in Syria is to put the UN recognized government of Syria and the Syrian people to return their oil fields and make money from it.
US Army Kills Several Hundred People To Hold Syrian Oil
CNN admitted: “The US Army sent its military advisers to the SDF near the Syrian oil fields in Deir ez-Zur when the area was overrun by ISIS. The loss of these deposits deprived ISIS of its main source of income, as well as the source of income for other terrorist groups. These oil fields are assets that have long been claimed by Russia and the Assad regime, which is running out of cash after years of civil war. Moscow and Damascus hope to use oil revenues to help rebuild western Syria and strengthen the regime.
In an attempt to seize the oil fields, Russian mercenaries attacked these areas, leading to a clash that killed hundreds of Russian mercenaries under US bombs. That is why Trump has taken a tough stance against Russia. These actions helped deter the Russians and regime forces from similar claims to these oil fields. US troops remain near the oil fields, and senior military officials told CNN that they will most likely be the last to leave Syria.”
Thus, CNN admits that the US military has killed "hundreds" of Syrian and Russian military personnel seeking the Syrian oil fields. And this massacre was not for humanitarian reasons, but to prevent the Syrian government from using "oil revenues to help rebuild western Syria." This shocking admission contradicts the widespread myth that the United States is leaving troops in Syria to protect the Kurds from an attack by NATO member Turkey. This CNN article points to the Battle of Hasham, a little-known episode in the eight-year international terrorist war with Syria.
This battle took place on February 7, 2018, when Syrian forces and their allies launched an attack to liberate major oil and gas fields in Deir ez-Zur governorate that were occupied by American forces and their Kurdish partners. The New York Times was delighted to report that the US Army had killed 200-300 troops after hours of "relentless US airstrikes." Several of the killed soldiers were Russian employees of the private military company Wagner Group, US officials said. According to "American intelligence officers", these Russian military "are in Syria to seize oil and gas fields, and to protect them for the sake of the Assad government."
The US says US special forces are cooperating with Kurdish forces near the Conoco oil and gas facility. The SDF, with the support of the US Army, took over the facility from ISIS in 2017. The Wall Street Journal wrote that the venture was one of the most important sources of income for ISIS. MarketWatch and OilPrice.com, which collect information on trends in the oil and gas markets, closely follow the military developments around Syria's most important oil and gas industries.
Depriving the Syrians of oil and wheat
For the Syrian government, the liberation of oil and gas fields in the east of the country is a key factor in restoring infrastructure and social programs in the face of stifling US-European sanctions killing civilians. The US does not want to give the Syrians these oil and wheat-rich areas. In 2015, Barack Obama sent US troops into the northeastern regions of Syria under the pretext of helping Kurdish militias. Then this contingent gradually increased to 2,000 soldiers.
These US troops, along with the Kurds, captured about a third of Syrian territory, which before the war gave Syria 90% of oil and 70% of wheat. In the future, the United States tried to portray that they were simply helping the Kurds to fight ISIS. In June, Reuters reported that local Kurdish authorities had refused to sell wheat to the rest of Syria under pressure from the US army.
Grayzone has reported that the Center for a New American Security, funded by the US government and NATO, has proposed using the "wheat weapon" to starve the Syrian civilian population. The former Pentagon official, who is now the senior administrator of the center, openly stated: “Wheat is a very powerful weapon in the next phase of the Syrian conflict. It can be used to pressure the Assad regime, and Russia to make concessions in the UN-led diplomatic process.”
Donald Trump has adopted this strategy. “We want to keep the oil, and we will work with the Kurds so that they have some money,” he said. "We might have one of our big oil companies to do this right." Despite Trump's promises to bring American soldiers home and end the military occupation of Syria, this illegal war continues. The brutal war inflicts economic harm on Syria not only with sanctions, but also with the plunder of natural resources.
Source: US troops are staying in Syria to 'keep the oil' - and have already killed hundreds over it, Ben Norton, thegrayzone.com, October 23, 2019.