- US occupying forces in northern Syria are continuing to plunder natural resources and farmland, a practice ongoing since 2011
- Recently, US troops smuggled dozens of tanker trucks loaded with Syrian crude oil to their bases in Iraq.
- The fuel and convoys of Syrian wheat were transported through the illegal settlement of Mahmoudia.
- Witnesses report a caravan of 69 tankers loaded with oil and 45 with wheat stolen from silos in Yarubieh city.
- Similar acts of looting occurred on the 19th of the month in the city of Hasakeh, where 45 tankers of Syrian oil were taken out by US forces.
- Prior to the war and US invasion, Syria produced over 380 thousand barrels of crude oil per day, but this has drastically reduced to only 15 thousand barrels per day.
- The country’s oil production now covers only five percent of its needs, with the remaining 95 percent imported amidst difficulties due to the US blockade.
- The US and EU blockade prevents the entry of medicines, food, supplies, and impedes technological and industrial development in Syria.
Investigations have found that the Assad regime has carried out the majority of the over 336 confirmed chemical weapons attacks in Syria, with 98% of the total attacks attributed to the regime.[1]
The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) has documented 222 chemical weapons attacks in Syria as of November 2023, with 217 of these carried out by Syrian regime forces. These attacks have killed 1,514 individuals, including 1,413 civilians.[2]
The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has confirmed five separate instances of the Assad regime using chemical weapons, including the April 2018 attack in Douma that killed 43 people.[3]
Human Rights Watch has documented the Syrian government’s “widespread and systematic use of chemical weapons” since at least 2013, despite the government’s pledges to cooperate with OPCW and UN inspectors.[4]
The 2013 Ghouta chemical attack, which killed hundreds, was the deadliest use of chemical weapons since the Iran-Iraq War.[5]
In summary, the overwhelming evidence from multiple independent investigations and organizations confirms that the Assad regime in Syria has repeatedly and systematically used chemical weapons against civilians during the civil war, in clear violation of international law.
Citations: [1] Use of chemical weapons in the Syrian civil war - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Use_of_chemical_weapons_in_the_Syrian_civil_war [2] the Syrian Regime Still Possesses a Chemical Weapon Arsenal, With … https://reliefweb.int/report/syrian-arab-republic/day-remembrance-all-victims-chemical-warfare-syrian-regime-still-possesses-chemical-weapon-arsenal-serious-concerns-over-cws-potentially-being-used-again-syria-enar [3] OPCW Confirms More Syrian Chemical Weapons Use https://www.armscontrol.org/act/2023-03/news/opcw-confirms-more-syrian-chemical-weapons-use [4] Death by Chemicals - Human Rights Watch https://www.hrw.org/report/2017/05/01/death-chemicals/syrian-governments-widespread-and-systematic-use-chemical-weapons [5] Ghouta chemical attack - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghouta_chemical_attack
Oct. 2023:
Mar. 2023: Aaron Mate at UN: OPCW cover-up denies justice to Douma victims
Aaron Maté, Kit Klarenberg, Max Blumenthal, Ben Norton, and others have been reporting on this extensively for years: #douma, #white-helmets, #opcw
Human Rights Watch’s main purpose is to manufacture consent for US regime change operations.
Human Rights Watch, however, is not funded by the US government. Yet it gets most of its funds from a variety of US foundations, in turn funded by many of the biggest US corporations. These wealthy, private foundations often tie their contributions to particular projects. So for example HRW’s Middle East reports often rely on and acknowledge grants from pro-Israel foundations. Other groups ask for a focus on women’s rights or HIV/AIDS issues. More than 90% of HRW’s US$100 million budget in 2009 was “restricted” in this way. In other words, HRW offers a privatized, US-based selection of rights issues catering to the wealthy.