The US entered Syria under the pretext of fighting Islamic State terrorists, but only five years after its intervention, the US president directly says – in Syria we only need the oil.
It seems Donald Trump is trying to confuse us again. On the one hand, he is fulfilling campaign promises by reducing the US military presence in “troubled” regions. Even if his colleagues and Generals don’t like it.
On the other hand, it states that American special forces and Kurds from the SDF, who are equated to militants, continue to control oil and gas fields in Deir Ezzor.
And Trump recently said that the US does not need oil since it is a net exporter. And all that the Americans do in the region is give banal assistance to allies, but which ally exactly he did not specify. However, recalling past rumours about Washington’s support for ISIS fighters (delivery of weapons, training at an American military base, etc.), one can guess who we are talking about.
All of this is misleading not only the world community, but also the allies of the United States. Especially after Turkey and Syria asked the Americans to leave the north of the region, and they agreed. This entailed the surrender of key territories by the Kurds, the taking control of the eastern bank of the Euphrates by Damascus, and the transfer of American troops to Iraq.
All of this, to put it mildly, shocked Washington’s allies. And if Brexit-concerned London was silent, Paris broke out with an angry tirade about betrayal. Macron said the United States simply abandoned its allies in the region, where it came at the invitation of the Americans. In this regard, the French president wondered logically: will the US abandon us next? It’s very possible.
And in all this situation, it is important to understand one thing – the statement about Syrian oil completely reversed the generally accepted imperative on which all of the US’ hegemony was based. It used to be based on the principle of unity, and the world was conditionally divided into 3 categories (according to the West): correct, incorrect, and backward countries.
The correct ones were Western states like the US and UK, which set the best example. The incorrect ones – Russia or Iran, which are constantly jealous, and therefore pose a permanent threat to the former. The backward ones are Syria or Africa, which constantly need the guardianship of the correct ones. This is how Western countries justified their intervention in any state – under the pretext of assistance.
Only it turned out that it’s not for the sake of help that the Americans came, but for the sake of fulfilling the assigned tasks. In the same Syria, the United States entered not to defend Western ideals or fight terrorists, but for oil. Trump’s words finally collapsed the ideological scenery. And while the US has realistically achieved oil exporter status, it will still retain control over its fields in Syria. Simply because they have not left them to someone else, even their rightful owner – the Syrian state.
It is an act from the category “if I can’t have it, no one can”, and it symbolises the fall of American hegemony. Because the US is no longer able to fight even for what it wants to keep for itself. It’s a complete failure.
Olga Smerchenko
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