Is Deep State Running Illegal American Policy in Syria

US taking over from IS & Al-Nusra Front by seizing Syrian oil

at behest of 'money lobbies' – Assad

It's very curious that America's Mainstream Media (MSM) is not the least bit interested in reporting this. With their determination to demonize Donald Trump, you would think they would be spreading this illegal action most gleefully. Why aren't they? Could it be because they are run by the same Deep State that is stealing the oil and selling it to the Turks?

FILE PHOTO © Global Look Press / Carol Guzy / Source: ZUMAPRESS.com

Powerful lobbies are behind the US rush for Syria's natural resources, and the Americans are carrying on where Islamist groups left off by "stealing and selling" them, President Bashar Assad has said.

In October, Donald Trump made headlines by ordering all US troops out of Syria, leaving the devastated country to anyone who wants "to come in and fight." But weeks later he backtracked on that decision, bluntly stating that troops would remain to "protect" Syrian oil fields east of the Euphrates.

In a comprehensive interview with China's Phoenix, Assad commented on Trump's swift transition from the mild non-interventionism that he championed before the troop withdrawal, to the outright oil-driven expansionism that resembled the 2003 Iraq War.

Donald Trump is not Deep State, but he has to choose wisely where he takes them on.

'Lobbies in charge of US policies'

It's not the government in the classical sense that drives US endeavors in Syria but "the money lobbies, whether in the form of oil, weapons, banks, or others," Assad explained.

American lobbies are "in charge of the policies" of the country, which "is not governed by principles, but rather by the interests of those companies," he said.

If they have an interest in occupying the oil wells, stealing and selling them one way or another, then this state and this regime will act in favor of these companies, regardless of international law and regardless of American law.

Those in the White House and on Capitol Hill aren't shy about breaching the US' own laws for the sake of these corporations "because if they don't make them happy, the president might be impeached," Assad said, referring to the previous historical experience of his country.

Therefore, it doesn't matter for Syria who is in charge in the White House since the US president's hands are cuffed by corporate, not state, interests.

There're 'thousands,' not hundreds, of US troops on Syrian soil

The Pentagon has retained around 800 troops to "guard" Syrian oil facilities, along with Kurdish-led forces, but the figure has artificially been decreased and did not include "individuals fighting with the American army," Assad believes.

The American regime relies significantly in its wars on private firms like Blackwater in Iraq and others. So, even if they had a few hundred American soldiers in Syria, they still also have thousands – maybe tens of thousands – of civilians working for such companies and fighting in Syria.

Who is paying them, and is the money accounted for? Who is getting the money from the oil? Is it being accounted for?

Regardless of how many US troops are present in Syria, they seem to be setting up for a long-haul deployment. Previously, it was reported that they were building two new military bases in Deir ez-Zor, the province where the majority of Syrian oil assets are concentrated.

Such compounds are situated near the border with Turkey, and Syria's northern neighbor plays a role in the affair, Assad suggested.  

Crude smuggled from Syria is sold to Turkey

The oil trade has always been a mainstay of the Syrian economy, although their crude reserves pale in comparison to those of the Gulf monarchies. In 2018, Syria had an estimated 2.5 billion barrels of oil reserves, compared with Saudi Arabia's 297 billion, Iran's 155 billion, and Iraq's 147 billion barrels, according to OPEC. 

Still, they were of great utility to anyone controlling them. Syrian oil wells were used by Jabhat Al-Nusra and Islamic State, Assad noted. As IS was largely defeated in most parts of Syria, the US is obviously filling the blank space left by the retreating terrorists that capitalized on selling Syrian crude.

Before the Americans, in the early days Jabhat Al-Nusra used these wells; after Daesh came and drove out Al-Nusra – or rather when it merged with Al-Nusra and they all became Daesh – it also stole and sold oil. Where? It used to sell it through Turkey. Now America is the one stealing oil and selling it to Turkey.

It's like when the mafia is driven out of a certain city, another criminal organization quickly rushes in to claim the area. Why is the media silent on this?

‘Why Even Fight?’ Duterte Threatens Drug Lord Politicians with Airstrikes

Calling in the Air Force is taking the war on drugs to another level. But with drug-lords with private armies thinking they can do anything they want, this might actually get their attention. The danger here is two-fold: collateral casualties - bombs are not surgical, and the likelihood that some people will accuse political rivals of being drug dealers just to get rid of them.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has threatened to unleash the full might of the military against the private militias of corrupt politicians, including sending in fighter jets to bomb their positions.

The president was giving a speech in which he revealed he had expanded the list of politicians suspected to be involved in the drugs trade.

“Even if you have 100-200 armed men, that will not help,” he said, as quoted by the Manila Bulletin on Tuesday. “Why would you put up a fight? I have 12 FA-50 jets. I will drop five bombs on you. I will really use the force of the government.”

“I told you not to contradict the government. I will use the government because I have to protect the people who represent the government. I will not hesitate.”

Private armies led by politicians and powerful clans have long been a fixture in the Philippines, particularly in the southern island of Mindanao, wracked by conflict with communist and Muslim insurgents as well as the terrorist group, Abu Sayyaf, linked to Islamic State.

Other than providing security, the militias are known to be used for settling scores: in November 2009, gunmen loyal to the powerful Ampatuan family massacred 57 people in the province of Maguindanao. Duterte himself has been accused of leading an armed group dubbed the “Davao Death Squad” prior to his election as president, which allegedly carried out the killings of thousands of accused drug dealers, users, thieves and other petty criminals. Some of the alleged former members of the squad have testified in court, either providing descriptions of the alleged extrajudicial killings, or dismissing the very existence of the group as “media hype.”

Duterte’s latest warning comes just over a week after Reynaldo Parojinog, mayor of Ozamiz City, was shot dead along with 13 others, including his wife and his brother, when a shootout erupted during an anti-drugs operation. Parojinog had been on Duterte’s “list” since 2016, and Duterte denounced him and his family as “gangsters.”

Allegations of using the war on drugs as a method of getting political opponents out of the way have also surfaced locally.

“I am the president of the barangay [village] council,” Vicente Yungco Jr told Marina Kosareva for RT’s documentary Project Duterte. “I was really surprised that I was linked with drugs. I’m on bail now, amounting to 80,000 pesos [$1,600] for illegal firearms and ammunition.”

“I think it was a political motivation. I have a political rival in my barangay. We were elected for three terms, they did not win. I’m afraid that certain local officials, they can do whatever they want.”

Over 7,000 people have been killed in the police crackdown on drug dealers since the start of Duterte’s presidency in July 2016, according to data from the Philippine National Police (PNP). The Philippines authorities have claimed that a large portion of those deaths have come from suspects resisting arrest in police operations while others have come at the hands of vigilantes or rival crime syndicates working outside the law. Meanwhile, human rights groups allege there is an unofficial state-sanctioned policy of exterminating drug suspects, while police officers actively collude with the vigilantes.