US Stealing Syrian Oil Is Null and Void

This has forced the Syrian government strongly condemn the recent deal between a US oil company and the rebel Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces that control the country’s northeast. Damascus says the SDF and US effort to “steal” Syrian oil is “null and void” and has no “legal effect.” It has also The described the deal as an “integrated and aggravated theft”.

The Syrian government considers the US presence in the country to be illegal, so naturally, any US extraction of oil in the region is regarded as theft. Syria is struggling to rebuild after nine-years of war, and illegal US sanctions are only making the situation worse, recent measures specifically target construction and energy sectors.

The US is trying to expand this policy under the pretext of keeping ISIL from reclaiming the oil deposits, since they held them once. The problem is that the terrorist group barely exists. In addition, keeping Syria’s oil away from Syria is a potential problem under international law and the Charter of United Nations - even if the US gives some of the money to the Kurdish SDF to support its military there.

This is while the oil theft business has shamelessly been going on for years, with no backlash from the international community. Indeed, the new oil scheme without Syria’s consent is not the first of the Pentagon campaign to ensure the illicit trade will go on as usual. It’s part of a planned provocation to escalate the conflict. The idea is to support occupation and provide sanctuary for military proxies who are foot soldiers in America’s resource war against Syria.

The US needs Northern Syria for its international commodity dealers, oil autocrats and the rest of the official Washington crew, all belonging to “the indispensable nation,” who fund Pentagon and soaring national security state budgets through their purchase of black-market oil.

Together, they have been smuggling Syrian oil to other countries under the protection of US troops before and after the defeat of ISIL. According to Russian Defense Ministry, “Oil was actively extracted and massively exported for processing outside Syria, under the reliable protection of US troops, before and after the defeat of ISIL.”

In our grim world, consider it an irony that tank trucks guarded by US military servicemen and private military companies are still smuggling oil from the illegally occupied fields in Syria to other countries. These are the same reserves that should be used for reconstruction efforts, which may cost as much as 200 billion US dollars, including support for the rightful owners of the oil - civilians, internally displaced persons, and refugees, or simply the state of Syria.

These are serious accusations that the US can no longer afford to downplay. In fact, the evidence to the accusations is so huge that it has forced US officials to change their tune - after previous denials. Here is the strange thing with the way they are presenting this new moral low. From one hand, they admit they are involved in trading Syrian oil. On the other, they claim it is “of no significance,” which is wilful ignorance.

The major architects of the Syrian tragedy should take note. Their dream of having the Arab state under their belts is down in flames. They should stop fooling themselves with new geopolitical-financial motivations. By any possible interpretation of international law, if there’s any side of the war the international community should be joining, it’s not with the US and its oil autocrats. It’s with Syria.

In the midst of such an embarrassing story, unless something is done properly, Washington’s black-market oil trade will destroy any hope left for peace and democracy in Syria. From Iran, Russia and Turkey to Europe, every government actively involved in the Syrian peace process bears responsibility for stopping this illegal scheme.

It is their responsibility to stop Washington and its oil autocrats on their tracks. If they ditch their responsibilities, or worse, steer away from the UN Charter and international law, it will become even more difficult to find a comprehensive, constitutional solution for the Syrian crisis.