By Rick SterlingJune 21, 2020 "Information
Clearing House" - Since 2011, the US
and allies have promoted, trained and supplied militants
trying to bring about “regime
change” in Damascus. Having failed in that effort,
they have tried to strangle Syria economically. The goal
has always been the same: to force Syria to change
politically. This month, June 2020, the aggression
reaches a new level with extreme sanctions known as the
Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act.
The new law is fraudulent on two counts. It is called
“Caesar” in reference to a 2014 propaganda stunt
involving an anonymous Syrian who was alleged to be a
military photographer. He claimed to have 55,000 photos
showing about eleven thousand victims of Syrian
government torture. As the Christian Science Monitor
said at the time, the “Caesar” report was “A
well-timed propaganda exercise funded by Qatar.”
A 30 page
analysis later confirmed that the “Caesar” report
was a fraud with nearly half the photos showing the
OPPOSITE of what was claimed: they documented dead
Syrian soldiers and civilian victims of “rebel” car
bombs and attacks.
The Caesar Syrian Civilian Protection Act is also
fraudulent by claiming to “protect civilians”. In
reality, it is punishes and hurts the vast majority of
17 million persons living in Syria. It will result
in thousands of civilians suffering and dying
needlessly.
Pre-Existing Sanctions
The US has been hostile to Syria for many decades.
Unlike Anwar Sadat of Egypt, Syria under Hafez al Assad
refused to make a peace treaty with Israel. Syria was
designated a “state sponsor of terrorism” and first
sanctioned by the U.S. in 1979.
After the US invasion and occupation of Iraq in 2003,
Syria accepted about one million Iraqi refugees and
supported the Iraqi resistance in various ways. In
retaliation, the US escalated punishing sanctions in
2004.
In 2010, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
pressured Syria to change their foreign policy and be
more friendly to Israel. Syrian President Bashar al
Assad
pointedly declined. Twelve months later, when
protests and violence began in Syria in 2011, the US,
Europe and Gulf monarchies (Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United
Arab Emirates) quickly supported the opposition and
imposed more sanctions.
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In 2016, after five years of crisis and war, a
report on the humanitarian impact of sanctions
on Syria was prepared for the United Nations
Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia. It
noted that “U.S. and E.U. sanctions on Syria are
some of the most complicated and far-reaching
sanctions regimes ever imposed.” The 30 page report
went on document with case studies how humanitarian
aid which is supposed to be permitted is effectively
stopped. The sanction regulations, licenses, and
penalties make it so difficult and risky that
humanitarian aid is effectively prevented. The
report concluded with thirteen specific
recommendations to allow humanitarian and
development aid.
But there was not relaxation or changes in the maze
of rules and sanctions to allow humanitarian relief. On
the contrary, as the Syrian government was expelling
terrorists from east Aleppo, southern Damascus, and
Deir Ezzor, the US and EU blocked all aid for
reconstruction. The US and allies were intent to NOT
allow Syria to rebuild and reconstruct.
In 2018, the United Nations Special Rapporteur,
Idriss Jazairy, prepared
a report on the negative impact of unilateral coercive
measures on human rights in Syria. He noted,
“Unilateral coercive measures on agricultural inputs
and outputs, medicines, on many dual use items related
to water and sanitation, public electricity and
transportation, and eventually on rebuilding schools,
hospitals and other public buildings and services, are
increasingly difficult to justify, if they ever were
justifiable.”
Before 2011, 90% of pharmaceutical needs were filled
by Syrian factories. Those factories which remain have
trouble getting raw materials and cannot get replacement
parts for equipment. For example an expensive dialysis
machine or MRI machine from Siemens or General Electric
is rendered useless because Syria cannot import the
spare part or software. On paper, they can purchase this
but in reality they cannot.
Over 500,000 civilians returned to Aleppo after the
terrorists were expelled at end of 2016. But
reconstruction aid is prohibited by US sanctions and UN
rules. They can receive “shelter kits” with plastic but
rebuilding with glass and cement walls is not allowed
because “reconstruction” is prohibited.
This article describes numerous case examples from
war torn Aleppo.
The author had a personal experience with the impact
of sanctions. A Syrian friend could not get hearing aid
batteries for a youth who was hard of hearing. Sanctions
prevented him from being able to order the item because
financial transactions and delivery is prohibited
without a special license. A stockpile of the
specialized batteries was easy to purchase in the USA
but took almost a year to get to the destination in
Syria.
US Economic Bullying and Terrorism
The Caesar Act extends the sanctions from applying to
US nationals and companies to any individuals and
corporations. It claims the supra-national prerogative
to apply US laws to anyone. “Sanctions with respect to
foreign persons” include blocking and seizing the
property and assets of a person or company deemed to
have violated the US law. This is compounded by a fiscal
penalty which can be huge. In 2014, one of the largest
international banks, BNP Paribas, was
fined $9 Billion for violating US sanctions against
Cuba, Iran and Sudan.
The Caesar Act claims the Syria Central Bank is a
“primary money laundering” institution and thus in a
special category. It aims to make it impossible for
Syrian companies to export and import from Lebanon. It
will make it extremely difficult or impossible for
Syrians abroad to transfer money to support family
members in Syria.
In addition to these extraordinary attacks, the US is
undermining and destabilizing the Syrian currency. In
October 2019, the Syrian currency was trading at about
650 Syrian pounds to one US dollar. Now, just 8 months
later, the rate is 2600 to the US dollar. Part of the
reason is because of the threat of Caesar sanctions.
Another reason is because of US pressure on the main
trading partner, Lebanon. Traditionally, Lebanon is the
main partner for both imports and exports. In spring
2019 US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, threatened
Lebanon if they did not change their policies. It
was blatant interference in Lebanese internal affairs.
In Fall 2019 street protests began, and the Lebanese and
Syrian banking crisis also began.
With the devaluation of their currency, prices of
many items has risen dramatically. Agricultural,
medical, industrial and other raw materials and finished
goods are almost impossible to acquire.
The shortage of food is compounded because wheat
fields in North East Syria, the bread basket of Syria,
have been
intentionally set on fire. In the past week,
sectarian groups in Lebanon have
blocked World Food Program trucks carrying food aid
to Syria. Meanwhile, in eastern Syria, the US and its
proxy militia
control and profit from the oil fields while the
Syrian government and civilians struggle with a severe
shortage oil and gas.
James Jeffrey and US Policy
In a June 7 webinar, the Special Representative for
Syria Engagement, Ambassador James Jeffrey, brazenly
stated the US policy. The US seeks to prevent
Syria from rebuilding. He said, “We threw everything but
the kitchen sink …. into the Caesar Act.”
The exception to punishing sanctions are 1) Idlib
province in the North West, controlled by Al Qaeda
extremists and Turkish invading forces and 2) north east
Syria controlled by US troops and the proxy separatists
known as the “Syrian Democratic Forces”. The US has
designated $50 million to support “humanitarian aid” to
these areas. Other US allies will pump in hundreds of
millions more in aid and “investments”. US dollars and
Turkish lira are being pumped into these areas in
another tactic to undermine the Syrian currency and
sovereignty.
In contrast, the vast majority of Syrians — about 17
million – are being- suffocated and hurt by the extreme
sanctions.
The US has multiple goals. One goal is to prevent
Syria from recovering. Another goal is to prolong the
conflict and damage those countries who have assisted
Syria. With consummate cynicism and amorality, the US
Envoy for Syria James Jeffrey
described his task: “My job is to make it a
quagmire for the Russians.” Evidently there has
been no significant change in foreign policy assumptions
and goals since the US and Saudi Arabia began
interfering in Afghanistan in 1979.
In his 2018 “End
of Mission” statement the United Nations Special
Rapporteur was diplomatic but clear about the use of
unilateral coercive sanctions against Syria: “the use
of such measures may be contrary to international law,
international humanitarian law, the UN Charter and the
norms and principles governing peaceful relations among
States.”
Caesar and the Democrats
The economic and other attacks on Syria have been
promoted by right wing hawks, especially fervent
supporters of Israel. Eliot Engel, chairman of the
Congressional Foreign Affairs Committee, pushed to get
the Caesar Act into law for years. This was finally done
by embedding it in the humongous
2020 National Defense Authorization Act.
In a hopeful sign that times may be changing, a
progressive candidate named Jamaal Bowman
may unseat Engel as the Democratic candidate in the
upcoming election. Eliot Engel is supported by Hillary
Clinton and other foreign policy hawks.
Jamaal Bowman is supported by Bernie Sanders.
While this may offer hope for the future, the vast
majority of Syrians continue as victims of US foreign
policy delusions, hypocrisy, cynicism and cruelty.
Rick Sterling is an investigative
journalist who has visited Syria several times since
2014. He lives in the SF Bay Area and can be reached
at
rsterling1@gmail.com. - "Source"
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