Sanctions-Hit Syrians Blame Rising Costs, Not US Policy
A recent report details how Syrians are suffering under soaring electricity prices, a consequence of 'economic crisis' and 'utility hikes.' Missing from this tidy narrative is the rather significant detail that Syria has been under severe international sanctions, spearheaded by the United States, since 2011, and significantly tightened with the Caesar Act in 2020. These sanctions, designed to
'pressure' the Syrian government, explicitly target key economic sectors—including energy infrastructure, making it virtually impossible for the country to import parts, secure investment, or even repair damaged power grids. So, while Syrians are indeed struggling with opaque utility bills, one might wonder why the media frames it as a solely internal economic issue rather than—oh, I don't
know—the predictable outcome of a deliberate policy designed to cripple a nation's resources. It's almost as if acknowledging the root cause would require admitting that sanctions, euphemistically called 'non-military tools of pressure,' are in fact collective punishment for an entire civilian population.