What’s Behind Saudi Funding to US Syria Operation?

Saudi Arabia is one of the American allies which has used its petrodollars to shape the US leader’s policies to its own advantage. The Saudis have just paid a sweetener to the Trump administration to continue its operations in Syria. On Friday, the oil-rich Arab monarchy said it contributed $100 million to the US-led international coalition in Syria ostensibly for a hope to help restore stability in northern Syria. According to the statement, the sum is the largest ever money allocated to Syrian areas reclaimed from the control of the ISIS terrorist organization and is a fulfillment of a funding pledge earlier made by the Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir to a NATO summit held on July 11 and 12 in Brussels, Belgium.

Immediately after Riyadh’s statement, the US Department of State stated that it welcomed the Saudi Arabian decision to help the Syrian mission. The State Department also asked other Washington allies to take similar steps in support of efforts that seek to bring stability and peace back to the region. The State Department’s welcome statement indicates how greatly the new Saudi grease money serves the interests of the Americans in the region. Cheered up by the move, the Americans are in an effort to persuade other allies, mainly the United Arab Emirates, to do the same job.

The Saudi contribution has raised a question: What does the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman seek behind his contribution to the US-headed military alliance?

Three objectives could drive the king-in-waiting to pay the money:

Tipping Washington for closing eyes to Riyadh’s policies

One of the root motivations of the Saudi constant sweeteners is the US blind eye to the Saudi human rights violations at home and its war crimes in the neighboring Yemen. Since Trump became president, bin Salman has been busy working on Trump administration to bring it closer to his side with the instrument being the huge cash paid to the US under various titles. The young prince also lobbies for Trump’s diplomatic cover on the world stage.

The Saudi financial contribution comes while the country is under heavy diplomatic strains. It is the middle of a rift with Canada after the Canadian government called for the release of Saudi women rights activists. Additionally, the Saudi fighter jets on August 9 bombed a bus carrying Yemen elementary students, killing over 40 children. Since then, Riyadh has been under heavy pressure from rights groups and global public opinion. Trump recently welcomed the Saudi aids to Syria operation, saying Riyadh and other wealthy Arab states should pay not the US.

“The United States has ended the ridiculous 230 Million Dollar yearly development payment to Syria. Saudi Arabia and other rich countries in the Middle East will start making payments instead of the U.S. I want to develop the U.S., our military and countries that help us!,” Trump tweeted on Saturday.

Reviving ISIS to keep the US in Syria

The Saudi financial help to the international alliance comes while a newly published UN report reveals that ISIS terrorist group has managed to regain access to Syrian oil fields and make profits from selling oil in areas that are controlled by the US-backed forces.

"[ISIS] was able to extract and sell some oil, and to mount attacks, including across the border into Iraq,” the reports stated, adding that the terrorist group regained “access to some oil fields in northeastern Syria".

While the report did not specify which forces exactly were having troubles with “momentum,” northeastern Syria is located on the left bank of the Euphrates river, controlled by the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) militia backed by the US-led coalition.

The report also listed a number of hotspots in Syria, which might be sources of further IS reemergence. Among them, the UN named the Rukban refugee camp, located near the At-Tanf US military base. Other ISIS-infested places listed in the report include unspecified locations in the Aleppo province and an area controlled by a ISIS-affiliated group in the Deraa province.

Furthermore, in recent days news from Deir ez-Zor came to suggest that ISIS fighters have been making movements in the areas of control of the US-aligned Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The ISIS fresh advances show that the Saudi cash to the Western alliance is finding its way into the re-emergence of ISIS in Syria, a development that can handicap efforts to end the crisis and pave the way for the US to stay in the war-ravaged country.

The US already collected its excuses to remain in Syria militarily. On August 17, the US Acting US Assistant Secretary David Satterfield in a Twitter post noted that the US was not pulling out of Syria until ISIS is fully obliterated in the country, adding that the intention was raised by Trump with the Russian President Vladimir Putin. Also in the same day, Brett McGurk, the US special envoy to the coalition fighting against ISIS said that the US is preparing for the “final phase” in its war against the ISIS in Syria, aimed at concentrations of the terror group's militants in the Euphrates valley. “We are remaining in Syria. The focus is the enduring defeat of ISIS,” he continued. The American officials’ comments indicate that ISIS remains a ruse for ongoing occupation of Syrian territories. The stay is even emboldened by the Saudis who are changing to a party fully shouldering US Syria presence expenses.

Pressing Turkey by backing the Kurds

The Saudi contribution also finds a relation to the Syrian Kurds and the Turkish sensitivity towards them. Paying part of the money to the Kurdish militias in the north by Saudi Arabia helps the US shift away the Ankara blame for aiding the Kurdish armed factions who Turkey finds them enemies to its national security. After all, Ankara is deeply in tensions with Washington and US direct help to the Kurds draws sharp reactions. So, paying the money to the alliance, which certainly spends part of it on the Kurdish factions, is a trick to by-pass Turkey’s criticism.

On the other side, the Saudis are watching the Turkish regional policies, especially alliance with Qatar and Muslim Brotherhood, as bearing existential risks to their security. By indirectly helping the Kurds, they intend to squeeze Turkey in retaliation.