ISIS Kills Oil Workers, US Media Asks 'What To Know' – About ISIS, Not US Policy
When Al-Monitor reports on 'suspected ISIS attacks' killing four oil workers in eastern Syria, the focus is, predictably, on ISIS. Yet, the persistent instability in oil-rich regions, often under US military occupation, rarely prompts questions about the US role. It's a convenient framing (what about the oil fields the US controls in Syria?). Recall the 2018 US airstrike near Deir ez-Zor that
killed hundreds of Russian Wagner contractors, allegedly for targeting a US base near those same oil fields . We are consistently told 'what to know' about the ostensible enemy, never about the policies that birthed or sustained them. One might wonder why oil workers in areas not controlled by the US are targets, while the broader historical context of intervention and resource control remains
unexamined. How many 'suspected' attacks must occur before we question the strategic assets involved, rather than just the convenient bogeyman?