US progressives and MAGA Republicans join forces to end illegal occupation of Syria — but come up short — RT World News

On March 8, Representative Matt Gaetz introduced a resolution that would have forced Congressional oversight of the continued US military occupation of Syria.

Overall, 47 Republicans joined with 56 Democrats – the primary members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) – in favor of the legislation. This Robert Ford also had the supportwho was the Obama administration’s ambassador to Syria and was formerly in favor of removing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

“Syria is my leadoff hitter. We are going to take a trip around the world. We can go to Yemen. We can stop in Niger. We can stop in Sudan. Maybe eventually we’ll end up in Ukraine.” Gaetz told The Intercept about the bill, which means it won’t be the last of its kind in ending American interference around the world.

Despite this unexpected bipartisan support, it was still rejected by an overwhelming majority of status quoists in Congress, representing a huge lost opportunity for Washington to fall in line with international law – and its own domestic law. As Ford wrote in his letter to Congress, “There is no definition of what a ‘permanent’ defeat of ISIS would look like,” and that’s what washington owes “Our soldiers are out there serving in harm’s way, fueling a serious debate about whether their mission is truly achievable.”

Furthermore, as he noted, the last pieces of territory claimed by ISIS had already been captured by US-backed Kurdish forces in March 2019, and the Pentagon’s assessment found that the terrorist group has the potential to launch attacks on the US. did not have the capacity. The issue is now about Iranian-backed militias attacking US troops in Syria, with many members of Congress noting Iran’s continued presence as a strategic mediator in avoiding a land bridge between Iran, Syria and Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militia in Lebanon. Let’s look at

But the problem with this strategic thinking is that such a land bridge already exists. US troops only make the drive between these areas longer – but they don’t eliminate it entirely. More importantly, it is illegal by both international and US standards. The military authorization to keep US troops in Syria is fundamentally against international law because they have never received permission from the current UN-recognized government of Syria. At the same time, the same law never described Iran, Iranian-backed militias or anything related to it, making the current military occupation a fundamental encroachment of legally granted war powers. There is also the issue of Kurdish-controlled areas should US troops be immediately invaded by neighboring Turkey, but this is also not mentioned in the current military authority.

What’s more, the continued US presence is exacerbating the humanitarian crisis in Syria. As The Cradle has reported extensively in collaboration with other Arab media sources, the US is stealing Syrian oil, its most important source of revenue in the international market, while also imposing severe sanctions on Damascus that making medicine, food and staple products unaffordable. — perhaps a greater blow to the Syrian people than the decades-long war going on in that country. This is also after the recent humanitarian disaster triggered by a powerful earthquake on the Turkish-Syrian border.

Previous proposals aimed at getting US troops out of Syria were, for all intents and purposes, political theatre. For example, he has given a one-week deadline for the troops to move out – which is clearly highly unrealistic, even if it is true and valid. And given America’s failed withdrawal from Afghanistan, it is politically understandable that America would want to avoid another embarrassment of such magnitude. But Gaetz’s law would have given them up to 180 days, which was realistic and would have helped the affected areas to smoothly transition under the legitimate control of the central government in Damascus.

Thus, this latest resolution was a missed serious chance to end America’s dirty war on Syria. To finally get US troops out of harm’s way and end the perennial violations of relevant international and domestic laws. Both the American and Syrian peoples deserved better; They deserve a total and final end to the ongoing and illegal occupation of Syria’s sovereign territory by Washington, which is draining the coffers of both countries for no reason (or at least not relevant to the everyday lives of the people in the streets). Used to be.

Now, it’s impossible to know how long Washington’s imperial project in Syria will last. But it’s safe to say that this will continue as long as the status quoists maintain comfortable seats in Congress. However, the fact that up-and-coming Republican stars such as Gaetz and young Democrats such as those in the CPC have joined forces with Ambassador Ford to end this mess is a sure sign that things are about to change. Have been One day it is to be hoped that when dinosaurs are finally brought to extinction, Gaetz and his like-minded bedfellows in Congress will have theirs. “travel around the world” To end America’s laundry list of illegal military occupations and to rein in the military powers of the President.